Systems for the control and use of fluids and particles

ABSTRACT

The configuration of a feedstock material is controlled by bringing it into contact with at least a first gas moving against it at a location with an area and thickness of the feedstock liquid that forms drops or fibers of a selected size. In one embodiment, drops of agricultural input materials are formed for spraying on agricultural fields. In another embodiment, nanofibers of materials such as chitosan or metals are formed. In another embodiment seeds are planted with gel. In another embodiment particles carrying desired agricultural inputs with modified release characteristics are delivered.

RELATED CASES

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/109,398 filed Apr. 19, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,311,050 in the names of John Alvin Eastin, et al., for SYSTEMS FOR THECONTROL AND USE OF FLUIDS AND PARTICLES.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the forming, shaping, control and use offluids, fibers and particles such as for example the formulation of apesticide, shaping it into droplets, and the distribution of thedroplets over a field to control pests or the formulation of a solublechitosan, the shaping of it into fibers or mats or sheets and the use ofthe fibers, mats and sheets such as for example in biomedicalapplications.

It is known to shape and spray fluids and suspensions with sprayingsystems. In some applications, the fluids and suspensions are formedinto droplets or aerosols and sprayed by the spraying systems. In otherapplications, the fluids form fibers, or powders or particles.

One use of such spraying systems is to apply agricultural inputs toagricultural fields. Commonly, the spraying systems include vehiclesthat carry the agricultural inputs and spray equipment that apply fromthe vehicle through fixtures supported by booms on the vehicle. Thespray equipment may includes pumps for air and for the agriculturalinputs.

In one type of prior art spaying system for this use, the vehicles usedto spray the agricultural fields carry large volumes of diluted activeingredients because it is difficult to spray more concentrated forms ofthe active ingredient and may be outfitted with a high pressure sourceof air and/or fluid requiring one or more relatively large pumps tospray the liquid containing the active ingredient because high pressureair and/or liquid pressure is needed to form the desired spray and alarge volume of liquid containing the active ingredient must be pumped.In some such systems, the fixtures or nozzles are relatively high abovethe target for the spray to permit the cone of fluid to provide anadequate area of coverage with the spray. Usually the cone angle isdetermined by the nozzle and has a limited angle. One reason fordiluting the active ingredient is because existing spray equipment usedin agriculture cannot spray viscous material with the desired size dropsand drop distribution and accurate low volume equipment is noteconomically available.

The prior art spray systems have several disadvantages such as forexample: (1) they require vehicles carrying the agricultural inputs tocarry heavier than desirable weights of agricultural inputs with theassociated water carrier; (2) they require the replenishment of thesupply of agricultural inputs carried by the spray vehiclesperiodically, thus increasing the time and expense of spraying; (3) theycannot be used for the application of some beneficial microbes becausethe microbes are killed by the high pressure used in the prior arttechniques for application of agricultural inputs; (4) the low viscosityagricultural inputs drift when sprayed; (5) some of the carriers usedfor dilution, such as water, have high surface tension and form beads oncontact rather than spreading such as over a leaf; (6) the low viscositysprayed drops tend to break up because of low shear resistance, thusforming smaller drops that are subject to increased drift; (7) some ofthe carriers used for dilution, such as water, have unpredictablemineral content and pH variations; (8) the angle of the cone of sprayedfluid from the nozzles is small thus requiring the nozzle to bepositioned at a high elevation above the spray target to obtain adequatecoverage but the high elevation increases drift; (9) the use of somecarriers for dilution in some circumstances causes precipitation ofactive ingredients (10) the prior art systems cannot effectively spraysome particles such as particles that have absorbed active ingredientsin them that are to be released at a later time and/or environmentalcondition or over a timed interval; (11) the angle over which the sprayis released for hydraulic nozzles is less flexible in prior art nozzlesresulting in target coverage limitations; (12) the conventional highpressure hydraulic atomization nozzles used result in excessive nozzlewear and consequential variations in the distribution rate and frequentchanges in nozzles; and (13) sprayer vehicle speed is limited by thepressure because higher pressures are required for high rates ofapplication and there are pressure limitations on the system components.

Spray apparatuses are known for spraying viscous materials. This type ofspraying apparatus has not generally been adapted for use in sprayingagricultural inputs. Moreover, the known spraying apparatus for sprayingviscous materials is not readily adjustable for different size dropletsor particles or viscosity of the droplets and is not equipped with aconvenient mechanism to adjust drop size or pattern or viscosity of thedrops in the field as appropriate and thus reduce drift by convenientlyadjusting drop size and viscosity in accordance with circumstances suchas wind speed, distance of spray fixture from the spray target or speedsuch as for example by ground vehicle or airplane.

It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,579 B2 to form small particles byflowing a hardenable liquid through small needles. The needles aremounted near an opening in a chamber containing pressurized gas so thatthe hardenable liquid flows from the needle while at the same timepressurized gas flows through the opening in the chamber parallel to theliquid flowing from the needle. This results in the liquid being formedinto thin microjets, becoming unstable and breaking into smallparticles. This process is used to form encapsulated foods and the likeand to form small hollow spheres. This patent does not disclose themaking of nanofibers. The process disclosed in this patent has thedisadvantages of being limited to small encapsulated particles and lowvolume production.

It is known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,520,331; 6,598,802 B2; and 6,241,164B1 to form bubbles and to burst the bubbles to form a chemical mist forfire suppression. It is suggested that the disclosed apparatus could beused for other applications requiring a chemical mist including theapplication of chemicals to plant life.

The apparatuses and process disclosed in these patents have adisadvantage in that they are not adapted for use with viscous materialsnor to adjust drop size and distribution in a manner suitable for theapplication of many agricultural inputs.

It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,993 to form drops of agriculturalinputs at low pressures by pumping a stream of agricultural input fromthe center of a stream of air in the same direction as the flow of air.Other jets of air are directed at the stream of agricultural inputs fromthe side. This prior art device has the disadvantage of requiring theagricultural input to be pumped through a narrow conduit under pressureinto the stream of air and thus is limited in handling viscousagricultural products, semisolids and mixtures of semisolids andparticles.

It is known to form nanofibers using electrospinning techniques. In theprior art method of forming nanofibers by electrospinning, fluids aredrawn into small diameter fluid ligaments or columns and dried to formthe fibers. The prior techniques for forming nanofibers havedisadvantages in that they are not suitable for forming nanofibers ofsome materials because of limitations on conductivity, dielectricconstant and surface tension. The electric potential to adequately drawthe viscous fluid is close to the break down potential of air and thesystem causes corona discharge before the fibers can be formed.

It is known to use chitosan as a biodegradable structural member,particularly in medical applications. Chitosan is a hydrolyzed productof chitin, that is antifungal, anti-allergic, anti-tumor, andimmune-activating. Chitin is a common naturally occurring materialformed of glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine units, and chitosan isobtained by a chitin hydrolysis process. Chitosan fibers and mats ofchitosan are thus formed by electrospinning of chitosan solutions.However, conventional chitosan solutions are undesirable forelectrospinning because of their high conductivity, viscosity andsurface tension. Other difficulties with putting chitosan in solutionare toxicity of some solutions. While chitosan has long been known toform viscous gels in carboxylic acids such as acetic, formic, andascorbic acid, as well as in mineral acids, it is not soluble in eitherwater or basic solutions. In addition, all organic solvents with thenotable exception of a 3 to 1 mixture of dimethyleformamide anddinitrogen tetroxide, and some fluorine-containing solvents, which areboth costly and toxic are also unable to dissolve chitosan regardless ofits degree of deacetylation (DA).

It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,992 B2 to form nanofibers bydirecting an air flow against a film on a flat surface. However, withthe method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,992, only relatively shortfibers have been obtained and at times the fibers stick to one another.When attempts have been made to keep the fibers separate byelectrodynamic force, the fibers stuck to each other rather than beingkept separate.

In certain applications, fiber deposits require a specific orientation,and there have been several prior art techniques to induce such type ofstructural ordering. Tanase, et al., Magnetic Trapping and Self-Assemblyof Multicomponent Nanowires, “Journal of Applied Physics”; May 15, 2002,v. 91, issue 10, pp. 8549-8551, discloses a technique that uses magneticfields to align suspended nickel nanowires in solution. Inelectrospinning, grounded wheel-like bobbin collectors were used toalign polyethylene oxide nanofibers. This method has one disadvantage,namely that it is impossible to adjust the rotational speed of thecollector to ensure that fibers remain “continuous” i.e. withoutsnapping due to a mismatch between the fiber deposition rate and thebobbin's angular velocity.

It is known from Chitosan-Coating of Cellulosic Materials Using anAqueous Chitosan-CO ₂ Solution Sakai et al “Polymer Journal”, v. 34, n.3, pp 144-148 (2002) to coat paper and fibers with chitosan prepared inpart by bubbling carbon dioxide through a chitosan gel. The chitosan gelis prepared by dissolving chitosan in one percent acetic acid, puttingthe solution into a sodium hydroxide solution to form a gel, washing thegel with water and bubbling CO₂ through the gel. The carbon dioxide wasto dissolve the chitosan—not to remove acid and there is no suggestionof using carbon dioxide to remove the acid.

Fluid drilling systems that supply a mixture of gel and seeds onto anagricultural field are known. One prior art fluid drilling apparatususes impeller pumps or peristaltic pumps or the like to extrude amixture of gel and seeds. The seeds are germinated prior to planting.Such processes are shown in United Kingdom patent 1,045,732 and in U.S.Pat. No. 4,224,882. These apparatuses have a tendency to distributeseeds with irregular and poorly controlled spacing between the seeds andunder some circumstances damage seeds. Moreover, they are prone toplugging from the accumulation of seeds in tubes used in the apparatus.

It is known that an internal delivery tube diameter to seed diameterratio of at least 3 to 1 is desirable for delivering gel seed mixturesto a planter row. Moreover, when moving fluid gel seed mixtures in atube, the seeds are propelled much faster at the center line of the tubethan at the side walls as a function of the laminar flow conditionswhich exist for gels having a viscosity that suspends seeds. Because thetube-seed ratio must be so large, adequate flow for fluid drilling oflarge seeds requires inordinate amounts of fluid and very large pumps toget the seeds delivered. The requirements for pump size and fluidamounts increase exponentially as seed diameter increases linearly forthe systems currently in use.

It has also been shown with peristaltic pump systems at seed densitiesin gel where the volume of gel to volume of seed ratio is less thanabout four, frequent blocking of the pump inlet port by seeds isexperienced. The same limitations apply to piston or air displacementsystems. Gels continue to extrude while the seeds pile up at the port asthe amount of seed in the mixture increases.

These disadvantages limit the flexibility of the current fluid drillinghardware for delivering large seeds, for using smaller quantities of gelto reduce gel cost per acre and for reducing the volume of gel that mustbe carried by the planting equipment. Further, this ratio limitationimpacts on the use of optimal concentrations of treatment chemicals ormicroorganisms in gels while still being able to use low total amountsof treatment per acre through using for example, gel to seed ratios of 1to 1. Thus the physics of dispensing seeds suspended in non-Newtonianfluids imposes strict limitations on the utility of the currentcommercial fluid drilling hardware.

Attempts to reduce this problem have relied in some circumstances onseed detectors, and counters or timers that attempt to control the rateof dispensing of seeds in accordance with the rate of travel of atractor. Such an approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,953. Thisapproach has not entirely solved the problem in a satisfactory manner.

It is also known to use screw type mechanisms that receive and captureseeds carried along by a fluid such as air or water and emit the seedsone by one. Such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,314 toAnderson. This apparatus has a disadvantage of damaging seeds and beingrelatively complicated and unreliable.

Augers are known for conveying matter from place to place but suchaugers have not been successfully adapted up to now to fluid drillingapparatuses. Some such augers have utilized a stream of air at an angleto the flow of material to break off controlled lengths of the materialand such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,529. However,this patent does not disclose any method of fluid drilling.

The augers used in the prior art are not designed in a manner adequateto separate seeds, to avoid plugging of the conduits carrying the seedsand gel to the nozzle from which they are to be expelled into the groundnor to maintain spacing between seeds while moving them along the auger.

It is also known to use openers and planting shoes to prepare a furrowin which to deposit seeds. The prior art planting shoes have adisadvantage when used for fluid drilling in that there is insufficientspace to permit accurate deposit of gel and seeds at a locationprotected by the shoe. In some prior art planters, additives such asgrowth stimulants, fungicides, herbicides and/or beneficialmicroorganisms are deposited separately from the seeds or coated ontothe seeds or deposited in carrier materials. The prior art apparatus forapplying additives generally deposit granules. These apparatuses have adisadvantage in that they waste expensive additives by applying themnonuniformly and at locations where they are not needed. Attempts toinnoculate seeds with beneficial microorganisms other than Rhizobia havenot been as successful as desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a novelapparatus for handling viscous materials.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel apparatus forspraying viscous materials.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodfor applying large numbers of discrete portions of a material tosurfaces with increased efficiency.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for encapsulating materials.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for the application of agricultural inputs.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodof spraying agricultural inputs using low pressures.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for applying agricultural inputs at low pressures.

It is a still further object of the invention to distribute spray ofagricultural inputs with low pressure air.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for applying low volume high concentration agriculturalinputs.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodof controlling the drift of sprays.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide precise controlof flow rate with low pressures.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodof encapsulating products.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for forming fibers.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for solubilizing chitosan.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for forming a biodegradable fabric with sufficient celladhesion to be implanted in animals.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodof making salt free chitosan mats, gauze, particles and/or fibers;

It is a still further object of the invention to provide novelapparatuses and methods for planting.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novelmechanism for fluid drilling seeds while keeping them properly spacedand undamaged.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel systemfor applying chemicals to fields for beneficial agricultural results.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novelplanter.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for planting seeds inoculated with beneficial organisms.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for planting seeds together with beneficial chemicals andmicroorganisms without damaging the microorganisms with high pressure.

In accordance with the above and further objects of the invention,feedstock material is moved to the outlet of a fixture. At least oneother material, which is a fluid, referred to herein as kinetic energyfluid because it imparts energy to the feedstock, impacts the feedstockmaterial. The kinetic energy fluid shapes the feedstock material into aform that depends on any of several variables. The variables arephysical and energy characteristics of the feedstock material, of thekinetic energy fluid and of the fixture outlet. These variables causethe formation of drops, mist, vapor, fibers or solid particles dependingon their values. The feedstock material may be an agricultural inputsuch as a pesticide, fertilizer, liquid, gel, microorganisms, seeds, hayconditioning agents, seed additives, solid with special properties suchas chitosan or combinations of these and may be sprayed or used forfluid drilling or formed into and collected as fibers for agricultural,industrial, medical or other uses.

The kinetic energy fluid is usually a gas such as air. In the preferredembodiment, drops with a relatively prescribed size distribution areformed by forcing the kinetic energy fluid at low pressure against awall of feedstock having a prescribed height and thickness with thekinetic energy fluid maintaining the prescribed velocity with respect tothe velocity of the feedstock. For example, to increase the volumetricrate and keep the size of the drops constant, the pumping velocity ofthe feedstock is increased together with an increase in the length ofthe outlet or an increase of the velocity of the kinetic energy fluid.The volumetric rate of forming drops is varied by varying at least oneof the length of the wall and the velocity of the fluid beingtransferred to the outlet opening. The angle of movement of the drops isvaried by varying the shape such as curvature of the wall and directionof movement of the feedstock

The relevant characteristics of the feedstock material, the kineticenergy fluid and fixture outlet include: (1) the physicalcharacteristics of the feedstock material and the kinetic energy fluid;(2) the energy characteristics of the feedstock material, the kineticenergy fluid and the fixture outlet or outlets; (3) the geometry of thefixture outlet or outlets and the relationship between the outlet forthe feedstock material and the kinetic energy fluid; (4) the dimensionsof the fluid material outlet and the kinetic energy outlet or outlets;(5) the molecular attraction between the feedstock material, thefeedstock material fixture outlet, the kinetic energy fluid and thekinetic energy fixture outlet.

The physical characteristics of the feedstock materials and the kineticenergy fluids are their density, viscosity, surface tension density,conductivity and vapor pressure. The energy characteristics of thefeedstock materials and the kinetic energy fluids are their temperatureand their energy density. By energy density herein, it is meant the rateat which the feedstock material is pumped to the fixture outlet, thevelocity and pressure at which the kinetic energy fluid or other energysource contacts the feedstock material and external energy that may beapplied such as piezoelectric, ultrasonic, electrodynamic forces orelectric field forces. It includes the enthalpy of the feedstockmaterial and kinetic energy fluids and energy that can be imparted byother sources such as for example, the application of charge to theoutput feedstock material or vibration of the feedstock material.

The geometry of the fixture outlet or outlets includes their shape, suchas being an elongated slit that extrudes a sheet of feedstock materialor kinetic energy fluid or a circular or specially shaped slit thatextrudes a column or any other particular geometric shape. Thedimensions will be reflected by the shape but also sizes such as thewidth of the path being swept by the kinetic energy fluid, the length ofthe path, the roughness of the path, fluid viscosity, surface tension,the thickness of the feedstock and the angle at which the kinetic energyfluid impacts the feedstock material.

In one significant aspect of this invention, droplet size and sizedistributions of sprayed agricultural inputs to agricultural fields arecontrolled. For example, viscous agricultural products that would, inprior art practice, be diluted so they are no longer viscous and thensprayed, instead can be sprayed in their viscous form with a drop sizethat will maximize the usefulness of the droplets. Certain pesticides,for example, that in the prior art techniques are diluted and sprayed athigh cost because of the heavy weight of water that must be carried byspray vehicles and the need for frequent replenishing of the supply onthe spray vehicles, can be sprayed in a more concentrated form using theequipment and processes of this invention at much lower cost. Moreover,the droplets formed by the prior art equipment are frequently carried bythe wind and become an environmental problem. However, with the methodand apparatus of this invention, the problem of drift and the volume ofcarrier needed are reduced.

Another significant aspect of the invention is the formation of fibersand powders, particularly nanofibers and mats of such or thin membranesformed of fibers and powders having diameters in the nanometer range. Afixture having small dimension openings such as needles or slots tosupply feedstock to a working area where it is impacted by a stretchingforce can generate thin fibers of many materials that otherwise would bedifficult to form in narrow fibers. The stretching force is supplied byan of several techniques such as: (1) by two kinetic energy fluids,having different velocities and impacting different portions of thefeedstock material; (2) by acceleration of the feedstock materials; and(3) by electric forces. In some ranges of kinetic energy fluid, powdersof the same materials can be formed.

One material that is formed into fibers, or mats of thin membranes orpowders is chitosan. Chitosan is a biodegradable material which, ifformed into mats and fibers containing both hydrophilic and hydrophobicmaterials of certain preferred compositions, is desirable for implantingduring medical procedures. Electrospinning is a technique commonly usedto obtain nano fibers but this technique is difficult to use and toscale up with certain materials including conventional chitosan solutionand certain other materials due to physical properties such as surfacetension and conductivity and viscosity. However, it has been found thatchitosan can be solubilized with acid solution and result in a superiorsoluble composition for use in electrospinning or result in economicalformation of powders. Moreover, electro spinning using the formulationtechniques of this invention can result in long nanofibers that aresuperior to what have been obtainable in the past and can be used toform mats that are desirable for medical purposes. One use of powders isin encapsulation of liquids for later release or encapsulation of otheritems such as seeds to increase the size of the item-coating combinationor the item size or to improve the identification or detection of theitems such as with color or with fluorescence or for protection of theitems.

To plant the seeds, they are mixed with a gel, which gel may includeadditives or additives may be added after the seeds and the gel aremixed. Additives may also be supplied from a separate source of gel tothe seed trench. The gel is in a ratio of no more than three parts byvolume of gel to one part by volume of seed although the exact ratiodiffers from seed to seed. It is sufficiently viscous to support theseeds and should have a viscosity of at least 180 centipoise. When apure gel is used, the viscosity of the gel should be high enough to holdseeds for at least ten minutes in suspension without dropping more thansix inches but not so viscous that seeds cannot be easily mixedthroughout the gel and be relatively evenly spaced from each other norso viscose that it cannot be easily moved to distribute it and theseeds. The ability to randomly mix and support seeds is enhanced byincluding solid particles.

In this process, a storage vessel communicates with a fixture through asemisolid transfer mechanism such as an auger. The storage vesselcontains semisolids, viscous liquids, gels or powders, hereinafterreferred to as “seed suspension materials” in which seeds are suspendedor maintained spaced from each other for a period of time sufficient forfluid drilling. There is enough high density material includingparticles within the seed suspension materials to exert force on solidparticles such as seeds and move them with the seed suspension materialsrather than causing the seed suspension materials to flow around theseeds when force is applied. This combination permits seeds that arerandomly distributed in the seed suspension materials to be moved by anauger and eventually dispersed randomly through the fixture. Materials,whether containing particles or not that have the characteristicsdescribed in this paragraph are referred to as “prepared fluid drillingmaterials”.

The fixture may be adapted to spray the seed suspension materials andsmall seeds or to apply a gel and larger seeds to a furrow or surfaceprepared for broadcast seed application. The seed and seed suspensionmaterials may also be removed at the end of the auger by a seed knifewhich may be an air burst or a solid member that scrapes the materialinto a trough. In this process, the seed suspension material may be amaterial of sufficient density or a colloidal suspension having adensity and viscosity that is sufficient so that the seeds will beextremely slow in settling. The seeds should be supported withoutsettling more than ten percent and preferably less than five percent inthe period of time between mixing the seeds in the medium and planting.Normally, this time will be less than a 24 hour period since commonlythe farmer will mix the seeds and medium in the same 24 hour time periodas he plants.

In this specification, “prepared fluid drilling materials” meanssuspension material for seed or other agricultural input whichsuspension material that is a semisolid, viscous liquid, gels or powderor a combination of these hereinafter referred to as “seed suspensionmaterials” in which seeds or other agricultural inputs are suspended ormaintained spaced from each other for a period of time sufficient forfluid drilling which rather than causing the seed suspension materialsto flow around the seeds or other agricultural input when force isapplied. The prepared fluid drilling materials according to thisdefinition permits seeds that are randomly distributed in the seedsuspension materials to be moved by an auger and eventually dispersedrandomly through the fixture. Materials, whether containing particles ornot that have the characteristics described in this paragraph arereferred to as “prepared fluid drilling materials”.

To obtain adequate mixing, the seeds should have force directly appliedto them. This can be accomplished by mixing into the medium a sufficientamount of solid and semi-solid particles so that there is contactthrough the solid particles and the moving surfaces applying force formixing. In one embodiment, this mixture is moved by an auger to a furrowfor planting and sections of it as appropriate for the number of seedsare removed from the end of the auger into the furrow. This can be donewith a substantially conventional planter. The auger is synchronizednormally with the speed of the planter which may be received from thewheel speed or any other proportional area signal. The auger has pitchangles on the screw graduated from low angles at the inlet to facilitatefeeding the seed gel mixture to higher angles in the delivery tubesection to give a friction pumping surface to move the gel seed mix.With this configuration, the screw: (1) provides a shear surface motiveforce for delivering the seed and fluid mixture; (2) provides a movingdelivery tube wall to dislodge any seed pile ups; and (3) singulatesseeds into the delivery exit port.

In one embodiment, the mixture of gel and seed is placed in a hopperwhich communicates at its bottom with the auger: The auger: (1) hasgrooves between threads sufficiently wide to encompass at least twoseeds within the matrix; (2) has trailing edges on the threads of theauger curved to provide a shear plate force to move the seeds with theauger without causing seeds to be removed from the viscoelasticsuspending fluid mixture; and (3) is between three inches and 18 incheslong. The auger rotates at a speed sufficient to cause the shearsurfaces of the auger mechanism to deliver seed particles to the seeddispensing port at the rate desired for planting. The viscoelasticcharacteristics and suspension ability of the seed suspending medium aredesigned to move the seeds and suspension fluid through the systemwithin very small changes in their ratio.

At the end of the auger, there is a tubular portion into which theseed-gel combination is inserted, with the tubular portion beingvibrated when necessary by an external vibrator with sufficient maximumforce intensity or maximum acceleration and distance amplitude tomaintain the seeds in suspension as they are forced to the tip. Acutting mechanism, such as air flow, removes the seeds from the tip,causing them to be dropped into a furrow prepared by the planter. Theair must be directed toward the ground and must not deviate within 45degrees from a perpendicular to the ground in a plane perpendicular tothe direction of the furrow and 75 degrees in a plane aligned with thedirection of the furrow. The range of angles in the direction of thefurrow and perpendicular to the direction of the furrow depends on thedistance from the ground of the tip.

The total acreage being utilized may be measured by a conventionalglobal positioning system for purposes of monitoring the amount of seedbeing dispersed and, under some circumstances, for accounting purposessuch as billing or the like. In this specification, a fluidic continuousmedium capable of suspending seeds and moving the seeds with thecontinuous medium while the seeds remain randomly distributed will becalled a “seed-supporting medium”.

In one embodiment, the seed suspension material is hospitable to andincorporates microorganisms and chemicals beneficial to the seeds thatare solubilized or suspended. The beneficial inputs may be chemicals orbeneficial microorganisms which can be inoculated onto the seed surfaceand sustained by the appropriate seed and microbe supporting medium.Many of the most suitable materials for inoculating seeds withbeneficial chemicals and microorganisms are semisolids and viscoushumectant materials that can be supplied with the appropriate seeds witha fixture in accordance with this invention.

The planter may be conventional and include conventional openers butbecause more space is needed to accommodate the gel delivery system thanmany conventional systems with seed delivery tubes, a planting shoe isused having a shield portion for the type, size and rate of seed beingdelivered so as to receive a gel delivery tube and seed separator inclose enough proximity to the seed trench to avoid blocking of nozzlesby soil from the trench preparation, or moving of the seed and gel fromits proper position by wind or planting system movement.

In one embodiment, a separate second gel delivery system is usedadjacent to the seed and gel system to deliver gel with additives intothe seed trench. Moreover, such a gel delivery system may be used toapply chemicals to fields separately from planting. The spacing of seedsfrom each other in a row may be controlled by intermittently stoppingthe air flow of the seeds in one embodiment. This may be done bytemporarily interrupting the air flow such as the blower or by blockingthe air nozzle.

From the above summary of the invention, it can be understood that thespray method and apparatus of this invention has several advantages suchas for example: (1) vehicles and aircraft used for applying agriculturalinputs to fields do not need to carry as heavy a load of agriculturalinputs, for example, they can carry the same active ingredients as priorart agricultural inputs with a reduction in water of as much as 90percent; (2) they reduce or eliminate the requirement for periodicaddition of water carriers for agricultural inputs, thus reducing thetime and expense of spraying; (3) they permit the application of somebeneficial microbes with seeds because the agricultural inputscontaining microbes can be applied at pressures low enough to avoidkilling the microbes and in viscous humectant fluids that facilitatebeneficial microbe infection; (4) the high viscosity, relatively largedrop size and narrow size distribution of the agricultural inputs reducedrift when sprayed; (5) it is possible to avoid diluting agriculturalinputs with carriers such as water that have high surface tension andform beads on contact rather than spreading such as over a leaf; (6) theviscosity and shear resistance of drops of agricultural inputs can bevaried to change the spray characteristics such as drop size dropdistribution and amount of drift; (7) it is not necessary to addcarriers used for dilution, such as water, that have unpredictablemineral content and pH variations; (8) the tendency for activeingredients to precipitate out with time because of the addition ofcarriers is reduced; (9) in particular embodiments, the particle dropletsize carrying active ingredients and formulation carrier chemistry canbe regulated and thus provide better penetration into a host; (10)because low pressures are used, the hoses last longer and it is possibleto spray at higher volumetric rates without exceeding the pressurecapacity of the system.; and (11) flow rate can be precisely controlledbecause low pressures are used.

It can be further understood from the above description that the planterin accordance with this invention has several advantages, such as: (1)it can provide effective fluid drilling with adequate separation ofseeds; (2) it can provide planting of seeds with superior beneficialmicrobe inoculation characteristics; (3) it can combine effectiveplanting with beneficial chemical and microbial additives; (4) itprovides good separation of seeds being planted without repeated mixingof the fluid and the seeds, (5) there is less damage to seeds because ofcontrolled priming in the presence of air and controlled water uptake;(6) it does not require carrying inordinate amounts of gel; (7) it iseconomical in the use of gel per acre; (8) there is less damage to seedsin the planting operation; (9) the seeds may be controlled for spacingin a superior manner to prior art drilling; (10) there is good controlover uniformity in time of emergence of the plants from the seeds; and(11) it economically facilitates addition of seed protection additive.

It can also be understood from the summary of the invention that themethod, formulations and apparatus for forming fibers or particles inaccordance with this invention has several advantages, such as: (1)longer fibers can be formed; (2) chitosan fibers, mats, sheets andpowders can be more economically and better formed; (3) fibers can beformed without electrospinning; and (4) micron size, submicron size andnano size fibers and powders can be formed more efficiently and faster.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a method for forming drops, fibers, mistsand/or vapor in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic perspective drawing illustrating aspray system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is simplified perspective drawing of one embodiment of fibergenerating fixture used in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4. is a simplified perspective schematic view illustrating stillanother embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the embodiment of spray apparatus ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through lines 6-6 of FIG. 5illustrating a possible variation of the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic front elevational view of anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a simplified schematic view of still another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective of one embodiment of spray apparatus inaccordance with invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of spray apparatusin accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a partly exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a partly broken away perspective view of still anotherembodiment of spray apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of spray apparatusin accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the spray apparatus of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the end of the spray apparatusof FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged perspective view of an insert used in the sprayapparatus of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of another embodiment of spray apparatusin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of sprayapparatus of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of another embodiment of spray apparatusin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a spray apparatus in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a planter or suspended particledelivery system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of planter inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram of a process for planting in accordance withan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of another embodiment of a system for plantingin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of a process for forming fibers in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram of a process for forming a liquid orsemi-solid suitable for use in the embodiment of FIG. 28;

FIG. 28 is a simplified perspective drawing of a system for formingfibers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 29 is a simplified, schematic, perspective view of a system formaking objects containing nanofibers and nanoparticles;

FIG. 30 is a simplified perspective view of an embodiment of drumaccelerator usable in the embodiment of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is an SEM of a non-oriented fiber membrane made in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 32 is an SEM of an oriented fiber membrane in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 33 is an SEM of non-oriented fiber mat in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram of a planting system in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of a tractor and planter usable inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 36 is a fragmentary, elevational side view of a vegetable seedplanter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 37 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of another embodiment ofplanter;

FIG. 38 is a simplified, perspective view of the embodiment of planterof FIG. 37;

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of a planting shoe in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 40 is second perspective view of the planting shoe of FIG. 39;

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the planting shoein accordance with an embodiment of the invention, usable primarily withthe embodiments of the planters of FIG. 36;

FIG. 42 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a small seed orparticle feeder usable with the planters of FIGS. 35 and 36;

FIG. 43 is an elevational view, partly broken away of another embodimentof seed or particle feeder usable with the planters of FIGS. 25 and 26;

FIG. 44 is a top view of the seed or particle feeder of FIG. 45;

FIG. 45 is a fragmentary perspective view of the planter of FIG. 37, theshoe of FIG. 41 and the seed or particle feeder of FIGS. 42-44.

FIGS. 46-48 are elevational views of embodiments of auger usable in aseed or particle feeder such as that shown in FIGS. 42-44;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view of an embodiment of vibrator usable in theseed or particle feeders of FIGS. 42-44;

FIG. 50 is a perspective view of a nozzle usable in the seed or particlefeeder of FIGS. 42-44;

FIG. 51 is an elevational view of a nozzle usable in the embodiment ofFIG. 45.

FIG. 52 is an elevational view of another embodiment of seed or particlefeeder;

FIG. 53 is a view looking from the top of another embodiment of seed orparticle feeder;

FIG. 54 is another perspective view of the seed or particle seed orparticle feeder of FIG. 52;

FIG. 55 is a perspective view of apparatus for supplying additives tofields,

FIG. 56 is a schematic plan view of a system for supplying chemicaladditives to fields; and

FIG. 57 is a block diagram of a control system for a planter orapplicator in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a process 10 for shapingand distributing fluid and/or particles and fibers or other solidparticles made from fluids in accordance with an embodiment of thisinvention having the step 12 of setting the physical and energycharacteristics of feedstock material, kinetic energy fluid and fixtureoutlet, the step 14 of moving feedstock material to a fixture outlet,the step 16 of forcing the kinetic energy fluid against the feedstockmaterial at a preselected angle to or parallel to the feedstock materialand the step 18 of collecting or distributing the shaped mist, vapor,drops, fibers or particles. In this specification, the word“distributing” shall mean any form of moving, collecting, spraying orotherwise disposing of the groups, patterns or individual distributeddrops, fibers, particles, vapor or mist. In this specification, “sprayfixture” or “nozzle” shall mean an apparatus adapted to be connected toa source of feedstock material and to a force for powering the feedstockmaterial through the apparatus, the apparatus including an outlet andstructure for controlling the output of feedstock material from theoutlet of the spray fixture.

The step 12 of setting the physical and energy characteristics offeedstock material, kinetic energy fluid and fixture outlet includes thesteps of: (1) establishing the physical characteristics of feedstockmaterial and a kinetic energy fluid; (2) establishing the energycharacteristics of the feedstock material, kinetic energy fluid and thepassageways through which they will flow; (3) establishing the geometryof the passageway for the feedstock material and the passageway orpassageways for the kinetic energy fluid or fluids and the relationshipbetween the passageways such as the angles with respect to each other;(4) the dimensions of the passageways; and (5) the physical andmolecular attraction between the passageways and the feedstock materialand kinetic energy fluid. The feedstock material will generally be aliquid or semisolid but can contain solids in suspension. In thisspecification, feedstock materials, kinetic energy fluids or otherenergy application sources and passageways that have been prepared toproduce a desired shape and distribution, are referred to ascompatibly-selected feedstock materials, kinetic energy fluids or energysources and passageways.

In general, this process controls the configuration of a substance bybringing a compatibly-selected feedstock material and at least a firstmoving compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid in contact with eachother. In doing this, at least one of the pressures of thecompatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, the velocity of thecompatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, the velocity of thecompatibly-selected feedstock material, the thickness of thecompatibly-selected feedstock material, the width of thecompatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, the width of thecompatibly-selected feedstock material, the temperature of thecompatibly-selected feedstock material, the viscosity, conductivity,surface tension and density of the compatibly-selected feedstockmaterial and/or the characteristics of externally applied energy ordisruptive forces, if any, is varied. The compatibly-selected kineticenergy fluid is usually a gas, such as air.

In the preferred embodiment, drops with a relatively constant sizedistribution are formed by forcing a uniform kinetic energy fluid at lowpressure against a wall of feedstock having a uniform height andthickness with the kinetic energy fluid maintaining a defined velocitywith respect to the velocity of the feedstock. The volumetric rate offorming drops is varied by varying the length of the wall and the rateof flow of the feedstock but maintaining its uniformity. The angle ofmovement of the drops is varied by varying the curvature of the wall anddirection of movement of the kinetic energy fluid. The wall is thinenough to avoid drops being formed from feedstock material at differentdepths under widely different conditions.

The process is useful with all kinds of fluids but is particularlyuseful with viscous liquids or semisolids or particles such as seedswithin a liquid or semisolid or just particles without a liquid orsemisolid because of the difficulty of handling these materials withprior art devices. In this specification, the words “formable material”means: (1) liquids that flow readily without time delay, assume theshape of the container holding them but are not gases that expand tofill their container; (2) powders, collections of small particles, veryviscous materials or semisolids that may hold their shape against theforce of gravity but can be shaped without grinding or cutting thematerial such as only with the use of pressure; and (3) viscousmaterials that flow slowly and assume the shape of their container onlyunder the force of gravity. This definition applies even if the formablematerial includes a mixture such as particles included in a viscousmaterial and is specific to the temperature of the material since theviscosity will change with temperature and may cause a material to movefrom one category to another. Semi-solids and very viscous materials aresometimes referred to in this specification as non-Newtonian fluids.

The kinetic energy fluid is a fluid that impacts upon the feedstockmaterial and aids in shaping it into the desired form. The desired formmay be drops or long strands that will harden into fibers. In oneembodiment, the feedstock material includes chitosan which is shapedinto nanofibers or nanoparticles. The kinetic energy fluid willfrequently be air but other fluids can be used. Of course, there may bemore than one feedstock material and more than one kinetic energy fluid.The fixture is the device through which the feedstock material andkinetic energy fluids flow and has a fixture outlet which willdistribute the final product. Thus, the fixture outlet will control theangle with which the kinetic energy fluid impacts on the feedstockmaterial and the area of that impact. The geometry of the outlet of thefixture can determine the thickness of the feedstock material and theshape and the pattern of the feedstock distribution. For example, it caninclude needles that extrude columns of a fluid with the kinetic energyfluid flowing substantially parallel to them and at different speeds ondifferent sides of the column of feedstock material to stretch it intoligaments that can form nanofiber or nanoparticle depending onformulation and operating parameters. On the other hand, the feedstockmaterial may be extruded as a sheet and a sheet of kinetic energy fluidmay impact it on one side and form it into droplets. In thisspecification, nanofibers and nanoparticles shall include micron-sized,submicron-sized or nano-sized fibers or particles.

Some of the relevant physical characteristics of the feedstock materialand the kinetic energy fluid are their densities, viscosities, thesurface tension and vapor pressure. The energy characteristics of thetwo fluids include their temperature and energy density. By energydensity, in this specification, the words “energy density” shall meanthe enthalpy per unit volume. Thus, it will be effected by the rate atwhich the feedstock material is pumped to the impact location with thekinetic energy fluid, the velocity of the kinetic energy fluid and itsmass and external energy such as electro dynamic fields or electricfields or mechanical vibrations.

Geometry also takes into consideration the width of the path being sweptby the kinetic energy, the length of the path being swept by the kineticenergy, the roughness of the path being swept by the kinetic energy, thethickness of the feedstock, the angle at which the kinetic energy fluidhits the feedstock, the dimensions of the kinetic energy fluid and thefeedstock material. Molecular attraction means the attraction at themolecular level between the fluid and the material of the passagewaysthrough which it flows.

This process may effect the length of a fiber that is formed and itsthickness. It may result in forming droplets, mist, vapor and particlesand the shape, pattern, density of the pattern, temperature and sizedistribution for droplets, mist or vapor and particles.

The step 14 of moving the feedstock material to the fixture outlet alsowill effect the size of the droplets or cluster of particles or thethinness of a fiber when taken in conjunction with the kinetic energyfluid effects. However, in a preferred embodiment, the feedstockmaterial is moved relatively slowly under very low pressure or nopumping at all since in some embodiments, it can rely on capillaryaction together with the pulling effect of the kinetic energy fluid.

The step 16 of forcing the kinetic energy fluid against the feedstockmaterial at a preselected angle or parallel to the feedstock materialcan have a drastic effect on the particle size, size distribution ofparticles or on the length of fiber that is prepared. Variations in theangle in many instances have a dominating effect on the nature of theflow from the outlet.

The step 18 of collecting or distributing the shaped drops or fibersincludes many varieties. In one case, drops of an agricultural input aresimply sprayed from a series of fixtures on a boom such as for example,onto crops. The term, “agricultural input” in this specification meansany of the inputs that are applied to agricultural fields such asmicroorganisms, fertilizers, growth regulators, pesticides, drillinggels or the like. In other cases, the fibers can be collected as acontinuous strand on a drum or by a moving surface. The collection isoften aided by magnetic attraction. The fibers may be charged and drawnto a collection surface containing the opposite charge. This may be doneto form mats or gauzes.

In FIG. 2, there is shown a schematic view illustrating, in principle,an embodiment 20 of a device for controlling the formation of particlesand fluids including a first flow path 22 for a first fluid and secondflow path 24 for a second fluid which are at an angle to each other toform a fixture outlet. In one application of the embodiment of FIG. 2,the two flow paths 22 and 24 accommodate a feedstock material and akinetic energy fluid which impact each other at the outlet to formdroplets of the feedstock material, which may be a fertilizer orpesticide or an encapsulating material or any other material. For thispurpose, the flow paths 22 and 24 are wide to permit the viscousmaterial to spread on a surface and the kinetic energy fluid to contactit and break it into relatively uniform droplets with a relativelynarrow sized distribution of droplets. While this system has particularutility for forming viscous materials into drops, it may also be used onmobile materials such as water.

For this purpose, the second flow path 24 has two plates 36 and 38 withfacing surfaces between which the feedstock material flows as shown bythe arrows 42 to the edge of a surface 40. The two plates 36 and 38 arespaced to maintain a relatively thin layer of viscous feedstockmaterial. The thickness of this layer can be varied by varying thedistance between the two plates 36 and 38 and the length of the exposededge of the surface 40 can be varied by moving a plate 404 between theplates 36 and 38. The thickness of the layer, the width and length ofthe exposed edge of the surface 40 that is contacted by the kineticenergy fluid and the angle of the contact as well as the pressure of thecompatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, and velocity of the kineticenergy fluid are all material to the size of the droplets and the sizedistribution.

The flow path 22 similarly includes first and second plates 26 and 28defining a flow path 30 between them for the kinetic energy fluid. Thefluid proceeds towards the edge of the surface 40 as indicated by thearrows 32. While the angle is substantially orthogonal in FIG. 2, it maybe a much more acute angle for impact to obtain drops within a narrowsize range and of such a size that with a viscous material, spray driftis substantially reduced.

In the embodiment 20 of FIG. 2, the kinetic energy fluid contacts thefeedstock fluid at the edge of their flow paths 22 and 24 although inother embodiments the kinetic energy fluid contacts the feedstock fluidon a surface a distance from the edge of the support. Moreover, in thepreferred embodiment, the kinetic energy fluid contacts the feedstockfluid along a curved line and the flow of the kinetic energy fluid isalong a diverging path so that the drops spread outwardly at an anglefrom the line of contact.

In FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment of a system for controllingthe formation of liquids, which system 20A forms thin streams of liquidcompatibly-selected feedstock material that harden into fibers orparticles rather than drops-or mists or vapor as in the case of otherembodiments. For this purpose, the system 20A includes as its principalparts a housing 56, a plurality of needles, the needles 50A-50E beingshown for illustration and at least two kinetic energy fluid passageways52 and 54. The needles 50A-50E are mounted within the housing andconnected to a manifold 61 having an inlet tube 63 which suppliesfeedstock material to the needles 50A-50E at a rate regulated by aregulator 73 connected to the inlet tube 63. The feedstock material issupplied at no pressure or very low pressure under the control of a pumpor regulator 73 which may be a valve connected to the inlet tube 63 to acontainer of a substance such as chitosan or any other material fromwhich it is desirable to make fibers. Each of the two kinetic energyfluid passageways 52 and 54 is on an opposite side of the feedstockmaterial and flow at different rates to stretch the streams into verythin ligaments to form fibers and particles including nanofibers andnanoparticles.

To supply a first kinetic energy fluid through the first kinetic energyfluid passageway 52, a regulator 75, which may be a valve supplies afirst kinetic energy fluid such as air at a first flow rate to acompartment 65 through a tube 67. This compartment is sized to overliethe path of the feedstock material to supply kinetic energy fluid in apath substantially parallel and in intimate contact with or only spaceda short distance from the feedstock material. To supply the secondkinetic energy fluid through the second kinetic energy fluid passageway54, a regulator 77 similar to the regulator 75 but set to cause adifferent flow rate at a similarly low pressure, supplies kinetic energyfluid to a second compartment 69 on the opposite side of the feedstockflow path from the first kinetic energy fluid compartment 52 andsimilarly in intimate contact with or spaced a short distance from thefeedstock material. The two kinetic energy fluids are close enough toexert force on the feedstock material in a manner that stretches thefeedstock material to form narrow fiber and particles having a diameterrelated to the difference in velocity of the two fluids.

In the-preferred embodiment, (not shown in FIG. 3) a plate is movedparalled to the front of the fixture 20A to deflect the flow of thekinetic energy fluid at an angle to the feedstock material (see FIG. 29)and create turbulence. The feedstock material includes solvents that areevaporated to leave a solid filament. While a plurality of needles areshown at 50A-50E from which thin streams of feedstock material flow, forsome applications such as the formation of drops, fibers or particlesthin slots may be used to form the drops, fibers or particles bythinning a viscous material with the flow of air around the thin sheets.The thickness of the sheets affects the size of the drops, fibers orparticles formed in this case as in the embodiments described belowwhere the viscous feedstock material is spread over a surface.

In operation, a hardenable feedstock fluid is forced relatively slowlyout of the needle openings 50A-50E while on one side of the openings afirst kinetic energy fluid from the first kinetic energy passageway 52impinges on the feedstock in a path that is nearly parallel to therelatively slow flow of feedstock material through the needle openings50A-50E, and at the same time a second kinetic fluid stream flowsthrough the passageway 54 at a different velocity to create a stretchingpressure on the opposite side of the feedstock material. Thisdifferential velocity when taken together with the viscosity, surfacetension and solvent characteristics of the feedstock material determinesthe amount of stretching before the feedstock material hardens intofibers or particles having the desired dimensions. By controlling theseparameters, nanofibers and nanoparticles may be formed from very viscousmaterials such as solutions of chitosan at high rates.

While two openings for kinetic fluid, one above all of the needles andone below all of the needles are used in the embodiment 20A of FIG. 3,more than two can be used including coaxial opening for encapsulation.For example, there could be one pair of kinetic fluid paths for eachneedle, such as below and above or on each side to provide thestretching force. The kinetic energy fluids are usually air but can beany other fluid compatible with the process. For example, nitrogen couldbe used. Moreover, the stretching can be done in stages with more thanone pair or the pressure differential can be provided between astationary surface and a fluid. Moreover, while only a velocitydifference between two gases is used to create stretching in theembodiment 20A, other energy forms can be used in addition to the use oftwo gases or instead of the two gases such as electrodynamic force or adifferential between a gas and a liquid or a gas and a solid surfaceunder certain circumstances. Preferably, the circumstances of theapplication of force does not cause premature breaking of the streams offeedstock material. It has been found that materials that have beendifficult to draw into nanofibers have the appropriate viscosity to besuccessfully drawn into nanofibers by two air streams. In thisspecification, fibers or particles formed within one or more fluidsflowing on at least two sides of the feedstock material with flow ratesfaster than the feedstock material are referred to as “kinetic-energyfluid shaped” fibers or particles and the process of forming them iscalled“kinetic-energy fluid formation” in this specification.

In FIG. 4, there is shown a schematic perspective view illustrating, inprinciple, an embodiment 20E of a device for controlling the formationof particles and fluids similar to the embodiment 20 of FIG. 2 in whichidentical parts have the same numbers as in FIG. 2 and parts with achange in construction have the same reference numeral but the numeralis followed by the letter “E”. The device 20E for controlling theformation of particles and fluids includes a first flow path 22 for afluid and second flow path 24E for a second fluid which flow paths arein contact with each other to form a fixture outlet. In FIG. 4, they areshown at an angle to each other but may be substantially parallel butpositioned to put the two fluids in contact with each other to transferenergy from one to the other. In one application of the embodiment ofFIG. 4, the two flow paths 22 and 24E accommodate a feedstock materialand a kinetic energy fluid which impact each other at the outlet to formdroplets of a feedstock material which may be a fertilizer or pesticide.For this purpose, the flow paths are wide to permit the feedstockmaterial to spread and the kinetic energy fluid to contact it and breakit into relatively uniform droplets with a relatively narrow sizeddistribution of drops. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the feedstockmaterial spreads on a surface having both width and length that affectthe drops whereas in the embodiment of FIG. 2, they contact each otherat an edge and in other embodiments may contact each other free from anyfixed solid surface and in air.

For this purpose in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the second flow path 24has two plates with facing surfaces between which the feedstock materialflows as shown by the arrows 42 through the path 38E and against thesurface 40. The two plates 34E and 36E are spaced to maintain arelatively thin layer of feedstock material. The thickness of the layer,the width and length of the exposed surface 40 that is contacted by thekinetic energy fluid and the angle of the contact as well as thepressure of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, and velocityof the kinetic energy fluid are all material to the size of the dropletsand the size distribution.

The flow path 22 similarly includes first and second plates 26 and 28defining a flow path 30 between them for the kinetic energy fluid. Thefluid proceeds towards the edge of the surface 40 as indicated by thearrows 32. While the angle is substantially orthogonal in FIG. 4,generally it will be a much more acute angle for impact to obtain dropswithin a narrow side range and of such a size that with a feedstockmaterial, spray drift is substantially reduced.

While in FIG. 4, the kinetic energy fluid contacts the feedstock fluidon the surface a short distance from the edge, in the preferredembodiment, the contact is made right at the edge. Moreover, in thepreferred embodiment, the kinetic energy fluid contacts the feedstockfluid at a converging angle along an arc so that the drops are spread atan angle from the line of contact.

In FIG. 5, there is shown a side view of the system 20E shown inperspective in FIG. 4, having a first flow path 22 and a second flowpath 24E. The first flow path 22 is formed of plates 26 and 28 throughwhich the kinetic energy solution flows through the passageway 30between the plates 26 and 28. The second flow path 24E receives thefeedstock material flowing in the direction 42. It is bounded by plates34E and 36E. As best shown in this view, the kinetic energy fluid flowsthrough the path 30 against the surface 40E which extends beyond theplate 34E on the plate 36E to provide a length of feedstock materialwhich is impacted.

In FIG. 6, there is shown a sectional view through the lines 6-6 of FIG.5, having the flow path 24E with the plate 34E shown in front and theplate 36E behind it to expose a surface 40E. The surface 40E differsfrom the surface 40 of FIG. 2 by the presence of rough spots 60 whichmay be projections or indentations or grooves or any other configurationdepending upon the effect desired, one projection for example beingshown at 60.

In FIG. 7, there is shown an end view of an embodiment of a second flowpath 24A through which the feedstock material 38 may flow beforeimpacting with a kinetic energy fluid from the first flow path 22 (FIG.5) having a first plate 64 and a second plate 62. As shown in this view,one or both of the first and second plates 62 and 64 forming the secondflow path are curved unlike the flow path for the feedstock material ofFIG. 4. The curvature may be imparted for any desired effect such as tocompensate for other effects that might intend to make the drops fromthe end of the sheets smaller or larger. Since the thickness of thefeedstock is a factor in the size of the drops, the curved flow path canbe used to compensate for these other effects or create new effects ofits own.

In FIG. 8, there is shown a simplified block and schematic diagram ofanother embodiment of fixture 20B having a film or sheet formingcontainer 44, a film and sheet forming fluid source 46, a drop andparticle moving fluid source 48, a feedstock fluid source 58 and a dropformer 88. The feedstock fluid source 58 and the film and sheet formingfluid source 46 communicate with the film or sheet forming container 44to supply feedstock fluid and a gas thereto. The top surface of the filmor sheet forming container 44 includes a plurality of perforations 402and an adjustable perforation cover plate 404B may be moved to cover aportion of the perforations 402 and thus adjust the amount of fluidbeing formed into bubbles and eventually into drops and/or particles.The feedstock material selected for this embodiment and the gas pressurefrom the film and sheet forming fluid source 46 must be such that thegas pressure will form bubbles by applying pressure to the feedstockmaterial but not burst the bubbles. The surface tension of the feedstockmaterial is sufficiently great to maintain integrity as a film or sheetunder the pressure supplied from the film or sheet forming fluid source46. The combination of pressure and feedstock material varies fromapplication to application.

To burst the bubbles and control the distribution of the drops andparticles, the fixture 20B includes an adjustable bubble bursting plate88 adapted to be positioned above the perforations 402 to burst thebubbles at the proper degree of inflation to provide the thickness thatyields the proper drop or particle size. The top of the adjustablebubble bursting plate 88 extends over an adjustable outlet 408 (notshown in FIG. 8) having sides that are adjustable to control the angleof distribution of the drops and particles moved by the drop andparticle moving source 48.

With this arrangement, bubbles are extended through those perforations402 that are not covered by the adjustable plate 404B. The thickness ofthe feedstock material forming the skin of the bubbles is determined bythe pressure, which may vary between zero and the bursting pressure ofthe bubbles. Thus by adjusting the pressure to determine the thicknessof the bubbles, the distance the bubble bursting plate 88 is from thetop surface of the film or sheet forming container 44, the velocity andpressure of the drop and particle moving fluid from the source of dropand particle moving fluid 48 and the angle of the opening formed by theadjustable outlet 108 (not shown in FIG. 8), the size of the drops orparticles and their distribution may be controlled.

In FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, there are shown three perspective views of afixture 20C with its parts in three different positions with respect toeach other to illustrate the construction of the fixture. The fixture20C as best shown in FIG. 9, includes an inlet end cap 70, an outercylinder 74, and an outlet end cap 72. The inlet end cap 70 includes akinetic energy fluid inlet port 66 and a feedstock material inlet port68 for receiving kinetic energy fluid 30 and feedstock material 38respectively. It is positioned on one end of the outer cylinder 74 withthe outlet end cap 72 being positioned on the other end.

The outlet end cap 72 includes a rotatable outer cap having an annular,feedstock-material impact surface 40 and an inner cap resting inside theouter cap and having a cylinder rest portion 76 and a cut-away portionexposing the top surface of the rotatable outer cap which forms akinetic energy fluid impact surface 78. The annular feedstock-materialimpact surface 40 is formed on the inner bottom of the outlet cap 72 andthe cylinder end rest portion 76 extends approximately 120 degreesaround the outer circumference of the end cap 72 to receive the outercylinder 74, leaving an arc of 40 degrees of the impact surface exposedbetween the inner cap and outer cap. The center cut-away portion 78 thatforms the kinetic energy fluid impact area and an outer circumferentialarea 40 defines an impact plane toward which a thin wall of feedstockmaterial flows adjacent to the outlet of the fixture 20C so that the airimpacts at 78 and flows circumferentially outwardly to impact a thincircumferential rim of feedstock material. The circumferential arc atthe outer edge of the impact area 40 for the feedstock materialdetermines the angle of the spray and can be adjusted by rotating theinner cylinders with respect to the outlet in a manner to be describedhereinafter. The thin wall of feedstock material is contacted betweenthe end of the outer column and the impact surface which distancedetermines the thickness of the feedstock material that is to be brokeninto drops.

In FIG. 10, there is shown another perspective view of the fixture 20Calso showing an inner cylinder 82 that is within the outer cylinder 74with the inner cylinder 82 having a recessed portion 84 spaced from theinner wall of the outer cylinder 74 to provide a path for the feedstockmaterial to flow against the surface 40. The amount of arc that overlapsbetween the recessed portion 84 and the opening in the inner cap thatforms the impact surface 40 for the feedstock material determines thelength of the feedstock material that is to be swept from the fixture bythe kinetic energy fluid. With this arrangement, the kinetic energyfluid 30 flows through inlet port 66 against the impact surface 78 fromwhich it flows outwardly to contact the feedstock material as it movesfrom a location between the inner wall of the outer cylinder 74 and theouter wall of the recess 84 in inner cylinder 82 toward the plane of thesurface 40 and forces it outwardly. The kinetic energy fluid, which inthe preferred embodiment is air at a relatively low pressure betweenzero and ten psi and most commonly in the range of one-half to three psiis intended to develop droplets from a liquid feedstock material with adefined size distribution and size for contact with plants and to reducespray drift.

In FIG. 11, there is shown still another perspective view of the fixture20C with the outer cylinder withdrawn exposing a larger section of theinner cylinder 84 having a recessed longitudinal extending portion 82and showing the outer cylindrical surface of the inner cylinder 84against the inner surface of the outer cylinder 74 so that thelongitudinal recessed portion 82 provides a curved narrow path for theflow of feedstock material, thus providing a relatively narrowed curvededge against which the kinetic energy fluid flows to spray Newtonianfluid, a viscous feedstock material, suspended particles or more mobileliquids or combinations of these. Because the inner cylinder isrotatable with an end cap 72, this recessed portion may be aligned withor misaligned with the impact surfaces 78 and 40, thus controlling thecircumferential number of degrees of the spray.

In FIG. 12, there is shown still another perspective view of a fixture20D which is similar in every respect to the fixture 20C of FIGS. 9-11but has a recessed portion 84 which, instead of receiving feedstockmaterial from one feedstock inlet indicated at 68 in FIGS. 28-30, mayreceive either or both of two feedstock materials through inlets 68A and68B. Thus, it may mix inlets for dilution purposes or receive a choiceof more than one feedstock from multiple inlets that are controlled by avalve or fed by multiple pump channels from a three position valve (oneposition can be used to purge with water).

In FIG. 13, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment 20D offixture having an inlet 30A for the kinetic energy fluid, an inlet 38Afor the feedstock material, an outer cylinder 74A, a thickness controlinsert 422 and mounting rings 418 and 420 for mounting to a boom. Thethickness control insert 422 is a replaceable unit which fits within theouter cylinder 74A and controls the thickness of the feedstock openingwhich is one of the dimensions of the feedstock that is to be impactedby the kinetic energy fluid.

In FIG. 14, there is shown a side elevational view of the fixture 20Dwith the thickness control insert 422 having an outwardly extendingledge 426 and a feedstock outlet opening 424 between the end of theouter cylinder 74A and the ledge 426 so that one dimension of thefeedstock exists between the plane end of the cylinder 74A and the planeledge 426, another dimension exists along the curvature of the opening424 and the third dimension is the thickness 430 of between the outersurface of the inner cylinder and the inner surface of the outercylinder of the ledge 426 which corresponds to the thickness of theopening 424 through which the feedstock flows in the direction of theledge 426. The kinetic energy fluid moves outwardly through the opening424 with the controlled thickness, length, width and curvature asdetermined by the replaceable insert 422 to control the sizedistribution of drops being spread from the fixture 20D.

In FIG. 15, there is shown a fragmentary enlarged view of the end of thefixture 20D showing the end of the cylinder 74A and the end of thethickness control insert 422 illustrating the manner in which feedstockflows downwardly through the opening 430 toward the plane of the ledge40 and air flows downwardly and outwardly through the opening 432 toimpact the feedstock fluid flowing toward the plane of the ledge 40. Inthis manner the insert 422 adjusts the opening 424 to control thedimensions of the feedstock being impacted by the kinetic energy fluid.

In FIG. 16, there is shown an enlarged perspective view of the insert422 showing the ledge 40 recessed downward from a cut-away portionforming a shoulder with a ledge 540 that is slightly raised to impactthe end of the outer cylinder 74A (FIGS. 13, 14 and 15) leaving a gapthat is the height of the shoulder 542.

In FIG. 17, there is shown another embodiment of fixture 20H having acap 434 with a feedstock inlet opening 38A and a kinetic energy fluidopening 30B in the cylindrical connecting members 444 and 66Brespectively. A base unit 440 is connected to a mounting bracket 442 tosupport the fixture 20H. A thickness control insert 438 has an outer rimwhich forms an opening with the feedstock interior 448 through which thefeedstock flows and thus controls the thickness of the feedstockimpacted by air at a shear surface. The air flows over the thicknesscontrol insert 438 and through the opening 446 of the air flow areacontrol plate 436 from the conduit 66B. The adjustment of the angle ofthe thickness control insert plate 438 controls the area through whichthe feedstock fluid may impact the feedstock fluid to cause it to flowoutwardly. Thus with an easily replaceable control insert plate 438, thethickness of the feedstock fluid may be controlled, the length of thefluid may be controlled by the adjustment of the feedstock flow areacontrol plate 436 and the area of the shear surface is determined by thedistance between the bottom face of the air plate 436 and the topsurface of the thickness control plate 438.

In FIG. 18, there is shown an exploded perspective view of theembodiment of spray apparatus of FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 18, the halfplate 450 receives the thickness control disk 438 which fits over thefeedstock conduit with the inlet on the other side of the bolt 38A. Thisthickness control disk 438 spaces the air flow disk 436 from the halfplate 450. The difference in the diameter between the thickness controldisk 438 and the diameter of the opening of the inside of the base 440determines the height of the fluid which is impacted by the air flowingthrough the opening 446 from the inlet 30B. The position of the air flowdisk 436 to the extent it overlaps with the half plate 450 or is open tothe open part 44B determines the arch length that is impacted by the airand the area of the inner wall 444 determines the area of the shearsurface towards which the fluid flows before being moved out of theopening in the form of droplets.

In FIG. 19, there is shown a perspective view of a fixture 201 similarto the fixture 20H and having the air inlet 30B through the conduit 66B,the working feedstock fluid through the opening 38A and the conduit 444,the mounting bracket 442, the base 440, the air plate control 436, thethickness control disk 438 positioned in a manner similar to theembodiment of 20H. FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of theembodiment of FIG. 19. As best shown in the FIG. 20, the embodiment 20Iincludes an additional feedstock fluid control disk which fits over thehalf plate 450 and under the thickness control disk 438. This plateincludes a closed half section 455 and an opening 452 so that theportion of the opening 452 is aligned with the opening 448 determinesthe area of fluid flow so as to give an additional control.

In FIG. 21, there is shown a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 90for utilizing the spray systems such as the spray system 20C including aspray vehicle 92, which supports and carries at least a storage vessel94, a pump 96 and booms or other fixture holders 98. In thisspecification, “spray vehicle” means any means of transporting afeedstock material for application to agricultural land whether it be aland vehicle, boat or an airplane and whether the spray vehicle isintended to spray a fluid such as for example a pesticide or intended toplant seeds. Commonly, the spray vehicle 92 may be a small vehicle suchas would otherwise be used as a recreational vehicle or a golf cart orthe like or may be larger vehicles such as pick-up trucks or stilllarger especially made heavy equipment intended for carryingagricultural input chemicals.

The storage vessel 94 which typically will be tanks or the like maycontain an agricultural input material. Commonly, this material isconcentrated and/or viscous in its original form, and unlike the priorart, is sprayed in viscous form although it may be slightly diluted.With the fixture 20C, viscous materials can be effectively sprayed andsprayed with droplet sizes that are particularly effective for foliarreception, or on the other hand, finer droplets that might be spreadcloser to the ground. Moreover, the spray vehicle can be a planter andthe sprayed materials may be a very viscous material with randomlylocated seeds or other particles.

For example, a particularly effective herbicide, glyphosate, isgenerally diluted to a large heavy volume before spraying to reduce itsviscosity and provide a carrier volume because the prevalentagricultural sprayers cannot effectively spray low volume or highviscosity herbicides. Glyphosate is sold by Monsanto Company, 800 NorthLindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo. 63167 U.S.A. under the trademark,Roundup. This invention effectively sprays glyphosate at a rate of onegallon or less of total liquid per acre rather than the ten gallonsgenerally required for conventional sprayers. The higher viscosity sprayreduces drift, increases efficency of the herbicide because of itsconcentration and reduces cost.

The equipment is also capable of spraying powders including dry andsuspended powders which may be utilized in some applications andsuspensions of particles. In some applications, the fixture 20C includesmeans for applying a charge to the drops so as to direct them better tothe plants. This device may take many of the forms known in the art suchas for example passing the drops through an electric field.

The pump 96 is generally a low-volume, precision pump, pumping fluid toeach fixture with zero pressure at the fixture. Because the inventiondoes not require liquid pressure against an orifice for metering andatomization, high pressure pumps are not needed and leakage problems areavoided. In the preferred embodiment, it is a gear pump. In thepreferred embodiment, the air supply will be blowing approximately fiveor less psi of a compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid against aviscous fluid or other fluid within the fixtures 20C. The fixtures 20Cis commonly mounted to spray booms as known in the art. The spray booms98 are mounted on the spray vehicle 92 to provide coverage over a largearea with a plurality of appropriately spaced fixtures along the boom.

In one embodiment, the spray from the fixtures 20C passes between twocharged plates 23 supplied by a power supply 21. A single power supplycan provide potential to several combinations of plates in parallel. Theplates 23 induce a charge onto the drops leaving the fixtures 20C andthis charge has been found to improve the contact of the drops withleaves under some circumstances. The separated plates may also be usedto change the particles, drops or fibers emitted from the fixture oraccelerator of FIG. 29.

In FIG. 22, there is a schematic block diagram of a planting system 100having a planter 102, a storage vessel 104 for semisolids in whichparticles are suspended for distribution, a semisolid transfer mechanism106, such as an auger and a fixture 20C. In this embodiment, relativelysmall seeds are suspended in the a storage vessel 104 for seedsuspension materials. In this specification, “seed suspension materials”means a medium that is capable of keeping particles suspended for anextended period of time rather than permitting them to settle. In thisspecification, the language “in suspension” when referring to seeds orother solid particles means that the seeds or other particles are beingheld spaced from each other distributed through a medium withoutsettling for the amount of time needed for planting seeds. This time maybe a day or longer so that a farmer may use fluid drilling until a tankis used up without needing to mix the seeds again because they havesettled from the original mixing.

The medium may be mainly a gel, or semisolid, or colloid or very viscousmaterial. There is enough high density material including particleswithin the seed suspension materials to exert force on solid seeds andmove them together with the semisolid rather than causing the semisolidto flow around them when shear plate force is applied. This combinationpermits seeds to be randomly mixed and randomly distributed in the seedsuspension materials to be moved by an auger and eventually dispersedthrough the fixture 20C. The auger has pitch angles on the screwgraduated from low angles at the inlet to facilitate feeding the seedgel mixture to higher angles in the delivery tube section to give afriction pumping surface to move the gel seed mix. The screw in effectprovides a shear plate motive force for delivering the seed particlesand the fluid while at the same time providing a moving delivery tubewall to dislodge any seed pile ups and further, it, effectivelysingulates seeds into the delivery tube. The medium may of courseinclude beneficial additives including biological additives such asbeneficial microbes and other useful additives such as calcium peroxideto provide appropriate oxygen to the seeds.

In FIG. 23, there is shown another planter system 110 with the sameplanter 102 which may for example be a spray vehicle with a means forforming a trough and distribution of seeds in the trough, a storagevessel for seed suspension materials 104 and a semisolid transfermechanism 106. However, instead of the fixture 20C, the seed suspensionmaterials at the end of the auger is simply removed by a seed knife 112which may be the flow of kinetic energy fluid or a solid member thatfrees the feedstock.

In FIG. 24, there is shown a flow diagram of a planting process 120including the step 122 of forming a fluidic continuous medium capable ofsuspending seeds and moving the seeds with the continuous medium, thestep 124 of mixing the seeds in the continuous medium to form fluidicsemi-solid with randomly dispersed seeds within it and the step 126 ofdistributing the fluidic semi-solid with randomly dispersed seeds withinit on an agricultural field. In this process, the fluidic continuousmedium may be a material of sufficient density or a collidal suspensionhaving a density and viscosity that is sufficient so that the seeds willbe extremely slow in settling. The seeds should be supported withoutsettling significantly more than ten percent and preferably less thanfive percent in the period of time between mixing the seeds in themedium and planting. Normally, this time will be less than a 24 hourperiod since commonly the farmer will mix the seeds and medium in thesame 24 hour time period as he plants. To obtain adequate mixing, theseeds should have force directly applied to them. This can beaccomplished by mixing into the medium a sufficient amount of semi-solidparticles and/or solid particles so that there is contact through thesolid particles and the moving surfaces applying force for mixing.

In the preferred embodiment, this mixture is moved by an auger to afurrow for planting and sections of it as appropriate for the number ofseeds are removed from the end of the auger into the furrow or broadcastonto the subject field using a spray fixture designed to spread theseeds over a broad pattern. This can be done with a substantiallyconventional or specially modified planter. The auger will besynchronized normally with the speed of the planter which may bereceived from the wheel speed or any other proportional area. The totalacreage being utilized may be measured by a conventional globalpositioning system for purposes of monitoring the amount of seed beingdispersed and, under some circumstances, for accounting purposes such asbilling or the like. In this specification, a fluidic continuous mediumcapable of suspending seeds and moving the seeds with the continuousmedium while the seeds remain randomly distributed will be called a“seed-supporting medium”.

In FIG. 25, there is shown a flow diagram of a process 130 for fluiddrilling, including the step 132 of preparing a seed supporting mediumand incorporating beneficial inputs with seeds, the step 134 of mixingseeds in the seed supporting medium to form fluidic semi-solid withrandomly dispersed seeds within it and the step 136 of distributing thefluidic semi-solid with randomly dispersed seeds within it on anagricultural field. The beneficial inputs may be chemicals or beneficialmicroorganisms which can be sustained on the seed surface or in thehydrated seeds and facilitated by the appropriate seed supportingmedium.

In FIG. 26, there is shown a flow diagram of a process 140 for formingfibers comprising the step 142 of forming a liquid containing thesubstance to be formed into fibers or powders, the step 144 of causingmovement of individual streams of the liquid into a working zone, thestep 146 of stretching the streams into fibers of the desired lengthwith at least one energy field and the step 148 of drying and collectingthe fibers or the alternate steps 147 and 149 of forming particles suchas powder and drying and collecting the particles. Some materials aredifficult to put into a form which can be further formed into smallfibers. For example silica and chitosan and many metal ceramiccompositions are useful if they are put into a nano-fiber ornanoparticle form but it is difficult to get them into a liquid form andthen use prior art processes to form nano-fibers. In this invention,once the desired substances are put into a liquid, they can be moved asindicated by the step 144 into a working zone by the apparatuses ofFIGS. 3, 28 or 29. While in the working zone, streams of the liquid canbe stretched to the desired diameter using an energy field or pluralityof energy fields. In the preferred embodiment, the liquid includessolvent which evaporates resulting in solid fiber or particles. Forexample the apparatus of FIGS. 3, 28 and 29 provide a kinetic energyfluid as one field and another kinetic energy fluid as another fieldwhich stretches the streams because they are moving at differentvelocities, one on one side of the stream and the other on another side.When the streams are at the right desired diameter, they are dried andcan be collected by known processes such as electrospinning or a chargedcollector as shown in step 148.

In FIG. 27, there is shown a process 150 for forming one importantmaterial, chitosan, into a liquid state so as to form chitosan fibers orpowders which are useful for many purposes. For example chitosan fiberscan be used in many pharmaceutical applications such as drug deliveryand controlled release and in medical technology such as wound and burndressings or surgical treatment, dermatitis and fungal infections,contact lens, bacteriostat and fungistat and bone disease, biotechnologyapplications such as membranes, biocatalysts, enzyme immobilization,protein separation, cell immobilization, food products, preservatives,fat absorption animal feed additives, metal-chelating processes such asabsorption of transition metal ions such as copper, chromium, lead,silver and so on, agricultural products such as timed-release, seedcoating, foliar application and paper products. However, there aredifficulties in forming a liquid containing chitosan that would besuitable for the making of fibers. One difficulty is that most knownsolutions are more conductive than desirable and have a higher viscositythan desirable for the prior art methods of forming fibers. An improvedmethod of putting chitosan into a liquid state is shown in FIG. 27.

In FIG. 27 there is shown an improved process for putting chitosan intoa liquid state suitable for the forming of fibers, thin films, mats orpowders having the step 152 of dissolving chitosan powder in a water inan acidic solution such as a acetic acid solution, the step of 154 ofbubbling carbon dioxide through the chitosan solution, the step 156 ofadding an organic solvent while continuing to bubble carbon dioxidethrough the solution until it is suitable for making a desired solutionthat can be used to make fibers or powders or the step 157 of adding asurfactant while continuing to bubble carbon dioxide through thesolution until the solution is suitable for forming powder. While it isknown that acetic acid can be displaced by bubbling carbon dioxidethrough the acetic acid solution, this has not been applied to chitosansolutions. While carbonic acid (H₂CO₃, on CO₂ solubilization) has alower pK than acetic acid, it is mere mass action imposed by continuousfeeding of the former that facilitates removal of the organic acid fromthe aqueous environment. The use of CO₂ instead of an inert gas has thesynergistic effect of stabilizing a pH below five, which is critical tomaintaining chitosan in solution. However, the CO₂ bubbling by itselfleads to chitosan precipitation by saturation as the water and acid isremoved. This problem is avoided by adding solvent. Superior results inavoiding precipitation of chitosan have been obtained by replacing thelost ingredients with ethanol, thus synergistically lowering the surfacetension, viscosity and conductivity of the solution, which is requiredfor making fibers. If an alcohol is added without bubbling carbondioxide through the solution, the solution may form a gel with only theaddition of a small amount of alcohol.

The chitosan-water-CO₂-ethanol solution is difficult to spin in thisform. However, it has been found that addition of as little as 0.25 wt.% or preferably 1.25 ml. % poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) is sufficient tomarkedly improve fiber formation using prior art spinning techniqueswith temperature and voltage control and the addition of surfactantimproves the formation of powders. The use of the two kinetic energyfluids on different sides of a compatibly-selected feedstock materialalso permits the formation of satisfactory fibers withoutelectrospinning and the formation of longer fibers using the abovesolution and electrospinning

Evaporation of a small amount of ethanol during the time-of-flight ofthe charged liquid filaments from the delivery capillary to thecollector electrode is all it takes to induce solidification.Interestingly, while the dominant chitosan weight fraction in the fibersis insoluble in water, washing the fibrous deposits with de-ionizedwater lowers the PEO content below its starting value. Morespecifically, in one embodiment, solutions of chitosan requiring verysmall amounts of plasticizers such as poly(ethylene)oxide, or noplasticizer agents at all, are prepared by dissolution of chitosan incarboxylic or mineral acid aqueous solutions, followed by total orpartial displacement of the acid with carbon dioxide bubbling, andaddition of controlled amounts of ethanol. With the aid ofelectrohydrodynamic processing of the solution formulation, fibers andparticles with diameters in the micron and submicron range are produced.The chitosan solution formulation also affords processing into thinfilms, given its lower surface tension than other formulations based onwater and carboxylic and/or mineral acids.

In FIG. 28, there is shown an apparatus 160 of forming continuous fibershaving a fixture 20A, a collector 162, a source of high potential 164, amotor 66 for driving the drum assembly and that serves as a collector162. The fixture 20A receives two kinetic energy fluids through theregulators 75 and 77 to contact the feedstock material. The feedstockmaterial is being extruded from needle openings 50A-50E onto thecollector 162 which is rotated by the motor 166 while a high potentialelectrical difference is applied between the needles 50A-50E and thecollector 162 to further stretch and draw the fibers. In the preferredembodiment, the fibers are drawn into nanofibers. For example, in oneembodiment, the feedstock material leaving the needles 50A-50D is fed ata rate between and two and seven microliters per minute through theregulator 75 (FIG. 30).

The collector 162 and the needles 50A-50E are spaced five to ten inchesapart and the gradient is approximately 4 to 600 volts per centimeter.Without the potential applied, non-oriented nanofibers can be produced.With the potential applied, a mat is obtained consisting of micrometerdiameter fibers parallel to each other in length between each other bynanofibers forming a tissue like mat of considerable strength with theability of having good cell adhesion to be useful in many biomedicalapplications. Variations in viscosity and potential can result inelectro spray of fine particles when it is desired to make nanoparticles.

In FIG. 29., there is shown a simplified, schematic, perspective view ofa system 160 for making objects, such as bandages, containingnano-fibers and/or nano-particles. In the embodiment 160, thenano-fibers and particles are of chitosan and used to form a mat 456 ona base 464 which may be cut up into sections and serve as bandages.However, the system may be used for many other types of nano-fibers ornano-particles.

The system 160 includes as its principal parts a liquid forming fixture20G, a pair of accelerating drums 462, a collector 464 and a source ofpotential 164. The liquid forming fixture 20G is similar to the fixture20A in that it supplies air through openings 52 and 54 to stretch afeedstock material exiting the opening 50F. In the preferred embodimentthe feedstock material is chitosan which is caused to exit as aplurality of thin strands. The feedstock compartment is electricallyconnected at 73 through a column 53 to a replenishment source offeedstock and air is supplied to the inner chamber of the fixture 20Gthrough an inlet 77. A kinetic energy fluid diverting slide 536 ismounted in side barriers 532 and 534 to move over a top barrier 530 todivert controlled amounts of the kinetic energy fluid into the feedstockmaterial at an angle to it.

To further guide the feedstock material and accelerate it, the feedstockinlet 73 is electrically connected through a conductor 478 to a sourceof potential so that the feedstock is charged as it leaves the fixture20G. While the charge is imparted by a direct electrical connection, insome embodiments the feedstock is charged as it leaves the fixture bypassing it through an electrical field so as to induce charge into theexiting strands or particles. The source of potential 164 is alsoconnected to the accelerator drums 462 with a potential sufficient toattract the charged strands or particles from the fixture 20G. In thepreferred embodiment, the accelerator drums 462 are at ground level andthe feedstock material within the fixture 20G is positively charged.However, the feedstock material could be negatively charged and theaccelerator only slightly more positive charged. The potential, aids incausing the strands to be drawn to the accelerator drums 462 and to beaccelerated by the potential field as they move.

The accelerator drums 462 includes cylindrical rotatable drums 472 and474 rotated together as indicated by the arrows by a drive 466 so thatthe feedstock material is pulled into the bite of the rotating drums asthey rotate together in opposite directions and accelerate the strandsstill further. The acceleration of the strands is sufficient at thislocation to break strands into fine particles. While a rotating drumaccelerator is utilized in the embodiment 160, any other appropriateaccelerator could be utilized. For example, a strong enough electricfield would also accelerate the strands. The acceleration, because itstretches the strands breaks it into uniform nano-sized particles. Toaccomplish this the acceleration must be sufficient and this must bedetermined empirically for each material used as the feedstock. Theacceleration drums or other acceleration means may receive streams fromany source and form micro fibers or micro particles. If a voltagedifference is applied between the accelerators and the collector, themicro particles and micro fibers may be converted to nanofibers andnanoparticles.

The base 464 is also electrically connected to the source of potential164 to receive a negative potential and draw the particles of feedstockmaterial 476 onto its surface. In the preferred embodiment, the base 464is a bandage based material driven as a conveyor by motors 166A and 166Bwhile the particles accumulate on its surface to form a mat 456. In thepreferred embodiment, this mat is chitosan which may be medicated toprovide a superior bandage because of its large surface area. In thepreferred embodiment, the feedstock material includes sufficient solventso that it is fluidic and can be emitted from the fixture 20G. Howeverthe solvent evaporates after it leaves the fixture and the ligamentssolidify into strands and/or particles.

In FIG. 30, there is shown a simplified perspective view of anembodiment of drum accelerator 462A usable in the embodiment of FIG. 29having a first plurality of rollers 468A-468C and a second plurality ofrollers 470A-470D. Each of the rollers 468A-468C, 470B and 470C isshaped as two cones with their flat bases together to form a symmetricalunit with two curved sides. The two rollers 470A and 470D are halfcones. The cones 468A-468C have their rounded ends adjacent to eachother as do the rollers 470A-470D and the two pluralities of rollers aremeshed together so that the curved sides of the roller 468A engages thecurved sides of the adjacent rollers 470A and 470B fitting therebetween. Similarly, the roller 468B fits between the two sides of therollers 470B and 470C. The roller 468C fits between the sides of therollers 470C and 470D so that the particles have increased surface areaover continuous cylindrical rollers.

In FIG. 31, there is shown an SEM of non-oriented chitosan fibers drawnwith a potential gradient above 100 volts per centimeter to a stationarycollector to form a thin film or paper. With slow rotation, a mat isformed such as the mat shown in FIG. 33. In FIG. 33 there is shown anSEM of a mat including chitosan fibers 172 in the micrometer diameterrange (between 0.5 and 1.5) and chitosan fibers 174 in the nanometerrange with micrometer fibers 172 cross-linked with the nanometer rangefibers 174. The flow rates were generally between 0.25 microliters and10 microliters per hour with the distance between electrodes beingapproximately between two centimeters and 60 centimeters and preferablybetween 8 to 30 centimeters. The fibers contain no salt since it wasunnecessary to neutralize acid in the formation of the material.

In FIG. 32, there are shown oriented fibers (longitudinal axis parallelto each other) that are obtained by more rapid rotation and a higherpotential gradient. The limit on the potential gradient is related toarcing between the fibers and can be increased with spatial increasesbetween fibers at the price of having fewer fibers per square inch in afinal matted product. The chitosan mats and fibers are obtained withoutsalt impurities in the feedstock material. The solution should bebetween a viscosity of between 30 centipoise (cP) and 2000 centipoise.With 65.4 centipoise at 21.8 percent torque, there is a surface tensionof 32.1 dynes and at 537 centipoise at 17.9 percent torque, the surfacetension is 31.5 dynes. The needle orifices 50A-50E are generally 20gauge.

The flow rates used to obtain the fibers of FIGS. 31-33 from theapparatus of FIG. 29 are in the micro liter per hour range, and anelectrical potential difference is applied between the needle and acollector electrode surface, preferably located several inches away fromthe liquid delivery point. Depending on key physical properties of thesolution being subjected to EHD (e.g., viscosity, surface tension, andconductivity), on partial or total solvent evaporation dissolved mattercan lead to either particles (electrospray) or fibers (electrospinning).

A very small amount of polyethylene oxide (PEO) is added as aplasticizer to facilitate fiber formation on electrospinning. Dissolvedcarbon dioxide keeps the pH of the solution low enough to avoid chitosanprecipitation. By doping the solution with small amounts of PEG, fiberdiameter can be bimodal, with the aligned large-diameter (dominant)fibers having an average diameter of 5 μm, and the cross-linkingfilaments having an average diameter of about 100 nm, as shown in FIG.33. On deposition of an electrically charged fiber, a simple and rapiddischarge mechanism consists of establishing such peculiar multiplepoints of contact with adjacent, or sub-layer fibers. The generation ofsuch extremely thin inter-fiber filaments cannot occur between twodischarged, gelatinous fiber strands in light of surface tensionarguments.

The oriented fiber structure looks like a membrane with average porediameter around 10 μm. Oriented fiber mats constitute an advance overconventional membranes or fibers since anisotropic mechanical propertiesare key for certain applications such as cartilage engineering. Thefibers emanate in a solvent-swollen state since drying of the mats witha heat gun led to a ten-fold diameter decrease (not shown). The diameterof the fibers, besides being a function of the physical properties ofthe solutions, depends strongly on the concentration of PEO.

EXAMPLES

While many other values of the variables in the following examples canbe selected from this description with predictable results, thefollowing non-limiting examples illustrate the inventions:

General Procedure

Solutions of chitosan in acetic acid/water/alcohol were bubbled withpure carbon dioxide gas at atmospheric pressure, and ethanol, methanolor acetone—depending on the co-solvent originally chosen—was added.

Example 1 Formation of CO₂-EtOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Suspend 1 g of chitosan powder (Aldrich DA=80.6%) in 99 ml of water.Then add 1 ml of glacial acetic acid (EM Science, 99.9%).

Result:

A few drops of the 1% chitosan/acetic acid solution in ethanol areenough to yield precipitates.

Example 2 Formation of CO₂-EtOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Dissolve chitosan in a 1% acetic acid, 40% ethanol, and 59% distilledwater solution.

Result:

Could not dissolve chitosan.

Example 3 Formation of CO₂-EtOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

A suspension of chitosan powder in 300 ml of distilled water wasmagnetically stirred. Glacial acetic acid (9.53 mL) was then added todissolve the suspended chitosan. The resulting solution was bubbled withcarbon dioxide (Linweld, industrial grade) for 30 min. After that,ethanol (Pharmco, 200 proof) was added slowly to the solution whilestirring and bubbling CO₂ until total solution reached a volume of oneliter.

Result:

A clear chitosan solution was produced with no precipitates.

Example 4 Formation of CO₂-MeOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Suspend 1 g of chitosan powder (Aldrich DA=80.6%) in 99 ml of water.Then add 1 ml of glacial acetic acid (EM Science, 99.9%).

Result:

A few drops of the 1% chitosan/acetic acid solution in methanol areenough to yield precipitates.

Example 5 Formation of CO₂-MeOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure.

Dissolve chitosan in a 1% acetic acid, 40% methanol, and 59% distilledwater solution.

Result:

Could not dissolve chitosan.

Example 6 Formation of CO₂-MeOH-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

A suspension of chitosan powder (Vanson, DA=83.3%), in 300 ml ofdistilled water was magnetically stirred. Glacial acetic acid (9.53 mL,EM Science, 99.9%) was then added to dissolve the suspended chitosan.The resulting solution was bubbled with carbon dioxide (linweld,industrial grade) for 30 min. After that, methanol was added slowly tothe solution while stirring and bubbling CO₂ until total solutionreached a volume of 1 L.

Result:

A clear chitosan solution was produced with no precipitates.

Example 7 Formation of CO₂-Ac-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Suspend 1 g of chitosan powder (Aldrich DA=80.6%) in 99 ml of water.Then add 1 mil of glacial acetic acid (EM Science, 99.9%).

Result:

A few drops of the 1% chitosan/acetic acid solution in acetone areenough to yield precipitates.

Example 8 Formation of CO₂-Ac-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Dissolve chitosan in a 1% acetic acid-30% acetone-69% distilled watersolution.

Result:

Could not dissolve chitosan.

Example 9 Formation of CO₂-Ac-Chitosan Solution

Procedure:

Seven g chitosan (Vanson, 83.3%) was stirred in the solution of 315 mldistilled water and 65 ml acetone (EM Science, 99.5%). Adding 6.67 mlglacial acetic acid allowed dissolution of chitosan with stirring. Theresulting solution was bubbled with CO₂ for 30 min. After that, acetonewas added at a rate of 200 ml/h until the total volume of the solutionreached 70 ml. This solution was called CO₂-Ac-chitosan.

Result:

A clear chitosan solution was produced with no precipitates.

Tables 1 and 2 below summarize the results of the examples. Table 1shows the conductivity and surface tension of the solvent use to preparechitosan solution and table 2 shows the conductivity, surface tensionviscosity and pH of chitosan solution prepared as in examples 3, 6 and9. It appears from these tables that CO₂ bubbling significantly improvesthe characteristics of chitosan solution that aid in electrospinning.

TABLE 1 Conductivity and pH of solution containing 1% acetic acid indifferent solvents. Conductivity Solvent (μS/cm) pH Water 645 2.84 70%EtOH, 29% water 22.3 3.87 70% EtOH, 29% water after bubbling CO₂ 22.13.93 70% EtOH, 29% water with bubbling CO₂ 21.0 3.95

TABLE 2 Conductivity and surface tension of 1% chitosan in 1% aceticacid in different aqueous organic solvents after carbon dioxidebubbling. Conductivity Surface tension solvent (μS/cm) (dymes/cm)Viscosity (cP) pH Water (pure) 2180 63 93.9 @31.3% 4.14 70% EtOH 21631.8 53.7 @17.9% 5.26 70% MeOH 695 32.1 65.4 @21.8% 5.44 55% Acetone 71535 53.7 @17.9% 5.33

In FIG. 34, there is shown a block diagram of a planting system 200having a seed carrier system 214, a seed and a carrier mixing system 216and a controlled fluid drilling system 218. After the appropriate seedsare prepared by initiating germination or priming or otherwise treatingthe seeds such as for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,144granted to John A. Eastin on May 13, 1997, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,181granted to John Eastin on Nov. 11, 2003, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,301granted to John Eastin on Jun. 20, 2000, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,050granted to John Eastin on Jun. 8, 1999, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,734granted to John Eastin on Nov. 2, 1999, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,144granted to John Eastin on May 13, 1997, they are applied to the seed andcarrier mixing system 216 where they are mixed with the seed carrierfrom the seed carrier system 214 to form a matrix of seeds suspended incarrier. This matrix is applied to the controlled fluid drilling system218 for planting in the field.

In one embodiment of the planting system 200, imbibition is done priorto mixing the seed into the gel but only until activation of the seedand prior to the stage of growth. It may then be: (1) returned to thewater content it had before priming; (2) stored, and later; (3) added tothe carrier, which may be a conventional gel for fluid drilling. Thegermination process continues through the activation and growth stagesin the gel and/or in the soil after planting. The time it remains in thegel must be relatively short in terms of days such as less than fourdays although it differs from seed to seed. Preferably, the seeds areplanted within six hours of mixing them into the gel. The process isdesirable if no more than 20 percent of the seeds are more than 30percent into the activation stage prior to the removal of water. Theactivation stage is considered to be from the start of metabolic actionin the seed before growth until the start of growth and the abovepercentages are percentages of time of the activation stage.

In addition to priming, several other treatments can be performed on theseeds prior to mixing them with the gel, such as for example: (1)germination may be started; (2) beneficial microorganisms may be addedto inoculate the seeds during priming or the microorganisms may be addedto the gel; (3) damaged seeds can be removed by sorting out larger seedsafter soaking the seeds to cause the damaged seeds to swell orpermitting matrix material to adhere to the seed during priming to makea larger cluster; and/or (5) systemic resistance to disease can beinduced by introducing desired agents during priming or in the fluid.

The planter separates the seeds with a small amount of gel around eachof them and plants them in furrows or broadcast spaces them on theground as needed. The amount of gel is considerably less than in priorart fluid drilling systems. The pre-emergence time of seeds planted bythis method is relatively close such as, for example, 80 percent of someplants emerge within one week of each other in contrast to 20 percent bysome prior art fluid drilling processes. The seed carrier system 214includes a suitable gel 30 and, under some circumstances, additives 32which are mixed into the gel. The additives 232 may be microorganisms orpesticides or growth hormones, or fertilizers useful in planting whichare intended to innoculate, enter and stimulate or protect the seed andseedling.

The gel 230 may be conventional and has a volume: (1) for large seedssuch as those of corn, preferable approximately equal to the volume ofthe seeds but always between half the volume of the seeds and four timesthe volume of the seeds; and (2) for small vegetable seeds such ascabbage, preferably twice the volume of the seeds and always between thesame volume as the seeds and less than ten times the volume of theseeds.

The gel 230 must have a viscosity and mobility: (1) sufficiently low tofill each groove at least half way as the screw turns; (2) sufficientlylow to be released at the end of the nozzle with a difference in airpressure as low as one-sixteenth pound per square inch across the nozzletip; and (3) with sufficient high density particles and semi-solidmaterials to enable mixing of the seeds by forces applied to the gelseed mixture, particle or seed.

Generally, many suitable gels are known and may be used in the densitiesprescribed. For example, hydroxyethylcellulose sold by Hercules, Inc.,910 Market Street, Wilmington, Del. 19899, under the trademark“NATROSOL” may be used mixed in the recommended proportions. This gelhas been shown to be capable of supporting microorganisms in fluidplanting. This particular gel, although not the only one available, isdescribed in Bulletin 250-11 revision10-80, 10M07640 entitled NATROSOLprinted by Hercules, Inc. at the aforementioned address, and its use inmixing is similarly described in other fliers produced by that company.

The viscosity may be measured using a viscometer such as the Brookfieldviscometer and should be in the range of 1,800 to 4,000 centipoises, andgenerally: (1) for small seeds such as cabbage seeds, it is in the rangeof 1,800 to 2,000 centipoises; (2) for medium sized seeds, it is in therange of 2,500 to 3,000 centipoises; and (3) for large seeds such ascorn, it is in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 centipoises. However, theexact viscosity can be determined easily by trial and error in theoperation of the seed or particle feeder.

The seed and carrier mixing system 216 includes a mixer 234 andadditives 236. The mixing may be done by hand or by an automatic mixerwhich receives the seeds and the gel and mixes them together thoroughly.Additives such as microorganisms, pesticides, fertilizers or growthhormones may be added at this stage if they have not been added at aprior stage. The seeds and gel should be sufficiently mixed to leave theseeds in suspension and may be done in large quantities and thensuitably poured into the holder, tank or hopper for the seed or particlefeeder or may be mixed in the hopper for the seed or particle feeder. Ifthey are added to the hopper from a larger mixer, care must be taken sothat laminar flow does not remove the seeds from suspension or themixing must be repeated in the hopper. Preferably, an auger is used tomove the feedstock material and the feedstock material has sufficientsemisolid and solid material in it so that the shear force supplied bythe auger surfaces imparts force to the entire feedstock material ratherthan selective to its components. Generally, if poured into the hoppersin large quantities, the suspension is not to be disturbed.

The controlled fluid drilling system 218 includes a planter 240, a seedmeasurement system for the planter 242, a seed or particle feeder 244for feeding the combination of gel and seeds and a separator 246 forseparating the seeds, a monitor 249 for the seeds and a control system250. The planter 240 may be a conventional planter pulled by a primaryvehicle such as a tractor and for opening furrows in the ground and topermit seeds to be inserted into them and for closing the furrows or maybe used with conventional broadcast equipment. The seed or particlefeeder 244 and the separator 246 are mounted on the planter 240 to feedgel and seed to the furrow and separate seeds. The seed or particlefeeder 244 is monitored by the monitor 248. A control system 250 may beused to compare the speed of the tractor with the feeding of seeds andadjust the seed or particle feeder 244 to maintain the properorientation. In one embodiment, the speed of operation of the seed orparticle feeder 244 is measured rather than the actual seeds beingdispersed and this is correlated with the number of seeds in accordancewith the seed density in the gel. This is done automatically byconventional planter equipment which drive the gel seed or particlefeeder in this invention but are known for driving seed drillingequipment. Also, the monitor 248 is visible to the operator who canadjust either the speed of the primary mover pulling the planter 240 orthe speed of the seed or particle feeder 244 in other embodiments.

In FIG. 35, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment ofplanter 240A intended for planting relatively small seeds such ascabbage, cucumbers or similar vegetable seeds. Planter 240A as shown inFIG. 35 includes within it parts for planting in two rows, with eachbeing indicated as one of two row sections 243A and 243B havingcorresponding numbers with corresponding prefixes “A” or “B”. The rowsare adjustable with respect to each other on the planter.

The planter 240A is similar in many respects to prior art planters and,in the preferred embodiment, is a modification of an existing drawnplanter of a type manufactured and sold by Stanhay Company with themodifications being directed principally to the operation and mountingof the seed or particle feeders indicated at 244A and 244B and a commonseparator section 246 supplying air to separator sections 246A and 246B.The planter includes a depth control gage having first and second depthcontrol gage wheels (not shown in FIG. 35), first and second tool barsupport wheels 260A and 260B, first and second furrow preparing sections262A and 262B, first and second furrow closing and pressing sections264A and 264B, and a tool bar 259. The seed or particle feeders 244A and244B and the separator 246 are adapted to be mounted on the planter todispense a matrix, to separate the seeds, and to cause them to drop intoa furrow before it is closed and pressed.

The planter is adapted to be pulled by a tractor 270 in a conventionalmanner and the tractor 270, in some embodiments, has mounted on it asuitable monitor 248 and indicating displays to show the speed ofmovement of the tractor 270 and the rate of dispensing of the seeds bythe seed or particle feeders 244A and 244B or, in other embodiments, acount of the seeds to permit ready correlation of the speed of thetractor 270 with the rate of dispensing seeds to control the spacing ofseeds. The common separator section 246 has a blower or other source oflow pressure air 272 connected through a pressure guage 274 with twohoses 246A and 246B for separating seeds in each of the two seed orparticle feeders 244A and 244B. The seed or particle feeders 244A and244B have corresponding feed hoppers 276A and 276B for receiving themixture of gel and seed and feeding it to a fixture for separation bythe separators 246A and 246B to be more fully explained hereinafter.

In FIG. 36, there is shown a side elevational view of the planter 240Afrom side A fo FIG. 35, showing one tool bar wheel 260A, one depthcontrol gage wheel 261 A, the furrow preparing section 262A and thefurrow closing and pressing section 264A. As shown in this view, thecommon separator section 246 (FIG. 35) blows air through the separatorhose 246A adjacent to the feed hopper 276A. The feed hopper 276Aincludes a bottom feed section 278A ending at a tip 279A of the bottomfeed section 278A and the separator hose 246A is located adjacent to thefurrow preparing section 262A and before the furrow closing and pressingsection 264A to feed seeds and gel into the furrow after it is openedand before it is closed.

To drive the bottom feed section 278A at a speed related to the movementof the planter 240A, the furrow closing and pressing section 264Aincludes a chain and sprocket section 280A with a bottom sprocket wheel282A rotating with the pressing wheels and driving a top sprocket wheel284A through a chain drive. The top sprocket wheel 284A rotates a shaft286A through gearing, which shaft powers the bottom feed section 278A. Asimilar transmission for driving the seed or particle feeder 244B (notshown in FIG. 36) is connected in a similar manner on the other side ofthe planter 240A. Other conventional drive mechanisms can be adapted ina similar manner such as generating a signal indicating ground speedfrom a power shaft.

In FIG. 37, there is shown a side elevational view of an embodiment 240Bof a planter intended for larger seeds, such as corn seeds, having assome of its parts: (1) depth control gage wheels, one of which is shownat 261C; (2) a plurality of disc openers, one of which is shown at 263C;(3) a plurality of furrow preparing sections, one of which is shown at262C; (4) a plurality of separators, one of which is shown at 246C; (5)a plurality of seed or particle feeders, one of which is shown at 244C;and (6) a plurality of sets of furrow closing and pressing sections, oneof which is shown at 264C.

As in the embodiments of FIGS. 35 and 36, the embodiment of FIG. 37contains a plurality of parallel row preparing sections forsimultaneously planting a plurality of rows of seeds parallel to eachother side-by-side and the embodiment of 240B is similar in manyrespects to the embodiment of planter 240A. However, the embodiment of240B includes a water reservoir and pump shown generally at 290, and adifferent furrow digging shoe to be described hereinafter. The waterreservoir and pump 290 is used only to clean equipment and does notenter into the planting of seeds. The seed or particle feeder 244C isshown with a bottom feed section 278C which feeds the seeds and matrixto its nozzle 336 where the seeds are separated one-by-one by theseparator 246C. As shown in this embodiment, the nozzle 336 for thebottom feed section 278C and the nozzle for the separator 246C areplaced in close juxtaposition with each other, and with the furrow beingprepared so that the separator 246C blows air downwardly andperpendicularly to the ground or in a slight angle to the ground acrossthe tip of the nozzle 336 of the bottom feed section 278C, thus causingseeds as they are moved to the nozzle outlet to be forced away from thenozzle 336 one by one to the ground.

To prepare the ground for receiving the seed and matrix, each furrowpreparing section, such as 262C, includes a corresponding planting shoe,such as 294C, adapted to cooperate with and be aligned with acorresponding disk opener 263C. The shoe 294C is mounted for adjustmentin depth to a mounting plate 295C which maintains it in position at aconstant depth with respect to the ground. The bottom feed section 278Cand the separator 246C are mounted adjacent to the shoe 294C to placethe seed and matrix in the ground behind it.

Because the seeds are able to emerge sooner in this gel planter, theshoe 294C (shown broken away in FIG. 37) during planting is less deepthan in many applications. It is adjustable in position and in FIG. 37is shown raised slightly above ground and would be adjusted to soilmoisture depth when planting. The seed or particle feeder 278C is drivenin the same manner as the embodiments of FIGS. 35 and 36, but may bedriven by separate motors if desired. The nozzle 336 of the seed orparticle feeder is positioned within wings of the shoe 294C at adistance from the ground and within the furrow forming element so as tocause the seed and matrix to be properly deposited.

In FIG. 38, there is shown a fragmentary, rear perspective view of theplanter 240B four row sections 243C, 243D, 243E and 243F for forcing geland seeds from their four corresponding seed or particle feeders244C-244F to the corresponding fixtures (not shown in FIG. 38). In thepreferred embodiment, the bottom feed sections, one of which is shown at278E, are controlled by the speed of the vehicle. However, they may beindependent of the speed of the vehicle and controlled automatically orby an operator in conjunction with a separate speedometer for thetractor. This arrangement is especially advantageous when seed countersof the optical type are used since an adjustment can be made from thecab based on the seed count to maintain regular spacing. In such a case,they may be driven by a separate hydraulic or electric motor.

As best shown in FIG. 38, the tool bar support wheels 260C and 260D aremounted by hydraulic cylinders 281C and 281D to the tool bar 259A in aconventional manner to adjust the depth or height of the planting shoes.The seed or particle feeder, one of which is shown at 276E feeds intothe furrow. Conventional row markers 279A and 79B mark the rows. Tosupply air under pressure to the seed or particle feeders such as 276E,the separator 246A includes a source of air under pressure and apressure gauge mounted to the tractor and connected by conduits tosupply air to a location near the seed or particle feeder. In thepreferred embodiment, the source of air under pressure includes a bloweras described above.

In FIG. 39, there is shown a perspective view of a planting shoe 294having a mounting shaft 296, a cutting edge 298, a furrow formingportion 300, and a trailing portion 302. The mounting shaft 296 isgenerally square and attached to the top of the planting shoe 294. Theplanting shoe 294 is mounted horizontally behind the disk openers of theplanter to prepare a furrow as it is moved through the ground. Thecutting edge 298 is mounted so that it is substantially within theground with its top flat surface above the ground. The cutting edge 298is able to dig or deepen a furrow. Its furrow forming portion 300 widensthe furrow, and its trailing portion 302 causes loose soil to be movedout of the way.

As shown in FIG. 40, the trailing portion 302 of the planting shoe 294contains outwardly extending portions 304 and 306 and a cut away portionwhich permits some flexing as it passes through the furrow and forcesthe soil to the side. The seeds are fed between the outwardly extendingportions 304 and 306 from a height sufficient to avoid clogging of thenozzle with dirt and close enough to the furrow to prevent the matrixand seeds from being moved outside the furrow while falling by variousforces such as wind or vibrations.

In FIG. 41, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment of shoe310 for planting larger seeds, such as corn, having a mounting bracket312, two aligned cutting edges 314A and 314B, and a trailing portion318. The cutting edges 314A and 314B and trailing portion 318 aresubstantially identical to the cutting edge 298 (FIG. 39), furrowforming portion 300 (FIG. 39) and trailing portion 302 (FIG. 39).However, since the furrow should be deeper for these seeds, the cuttingedge 314A is lower than the cutting edge 298 (FIG. 39) and the cuttingedge 314B is wide to make a deeper, wider furrow. These designs of shoesenable the gel to fall within the groove and be relatively regular inlocation notwithstanding a slightly angled path of the gel from thenozzle caused by wind or vibration. To form a protective area for thematrix, gel and seeds to fall, the spaced apart portions 304 and 306 ofFIGS. 39 and 40 are spaced from each other where the seeds drop. Theplanting shoes 294 (FIGS. 39 and 40) and 310 are mounted to float at thelevel adjusted for the openers to which they are mounted under thecontrol of the level gauge wheels in a manner known in the art, for thispurpose the mounting bracket 312 is mounted to the shoe 310 and themounting bracket 312 is movably mounted to an opener mounting bracket ina manner to be described hereinafter.

In FIG. 42, there is shown a perspective view of a seed or particlefeeder 244 and a separator 246 of a type which is most useful for smallseeds, such as carrot or cabbage seeds. The seed or particle feeder 244includes a feed hopper 276A, a bottom feed section 278A, a motor outputshaft 330, a mounting bracket 332, a vibrator 334 and a nozzle 336A. Toexpel seeds and matrix, the bottom feed section 278A is: (1) connectedto and driven by the shaft 330; (2) mounted by the mounting bracket 332to the frame of the planter; and (3) mounted to the feed hopper 276Afrom which it receives gel and seeds. It drives the seeds and gel underthe driving force of the shaft 330 through the seed or particle feedernozzle 336A while the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A is vibrated bythe vibrator 334. The shaft 330 is rotated by a chain and sprocketsection (not shown in FIG. 42) in synchronism with the speed of theplanter across a field or by a motor. The separator 246 includes anozzle 340, a hose 342 and a mounting bracket 344. The hose 342 is incommunication with the source of air 272 (FIG. 35) which may be as lowas one-sixteenth pound per square inch pressure above atmosphericpressure and as high as 10 psi for broadcast applications but ispreferably between one-quarter psi to four psi. The air is transferredunder pressure through the hose 342 to the nozzle 340. The hose 342 ismounted to the feed hopper 276A by the mounting bracket 344 so that itsnozzle 340 is above and pointing substantially perpendicularlydownwardly toward the ground at a location just beyond the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336A to blow air across that nozzle 336Adownwardly to the ground or in a pattern to broadcast distribute seedsin the pattern desired. The hose 342 is relatively stiff so that it maybe mounted in position without moving under wind pressure or the like.

The feed hopper 276A is generally open topped and rectangular, beingcapable of holding several gallons of gel and seed with sides extendingdownwardly to a location close to the bottom feed section 278A where itis angled to communicate therewith. Other sizes and shapes of feedhoppers may be used, with the wall construction being adapted to causethe seeds and the gel to move into the bottom of the hopper 276A andinto the bottom feed section 278A without the seeds being separated bylaminar flow against the walls of the hopper, or settling into groups ofsizes within the gel because of the period of time required for thelarge quantity of gel to be planted. Thus, the size of the feed hopperis related to the stability of the suspension of seeds and gel and isdesigned to retain uniformity in the dispersion of seeds within the feedhopper 276A until the seeds are driven through the seed or particlefeeder nozzle 336A. The bottom feed section 278A of the seed or particlefeeder 244 includes a cylindrical casing having an axis generallyperpendicular to the central axis of the feed hopper 276A or inclined atan angle thereto. The angle of the bottom feed section 278A is such asto cause gravity to aid in the feeding of gel from the feed hopper 276Athrough the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A. The longitudinal axisof the feed means makes an angle with the longitudinal axis of the feedhopper 276A such that the feed nozzle 336A is lower and further awayfrom the top of the feed hopper 276A than the end receiving the motoroutput shaft 330.

To move the gel and seeds with a positive force, the feed means has agenerally cylindrical casing which may be mounted at its bottom end by amounting bracket 332 to the housing or by any other means. It receivesat one end the motor output shaft 330, which is rotated by a hydraulicmotor or by gearing connected to the press wheels or any other mechanismto force the seed/gel mixture toward the seed or particle feeder nozzle336A. The seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A extends from a cap orclosure mounted about the bottom feed section 278A to emit geldownwardly such as that shown at 337.

To maintain seeds in the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A in auniform suspension for dispersion in spite of possible laminar flowthrough the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A, the vibrator 334includes an electromagnet 350, a mounting base 352, a mounting bracket354 and a yoke 356. The mounting base 352 is mounted to the cylindricalcasing of the bottom feed section 278A by the bracket 354 and supportsthe electromagnet 350. The electromagnet 350 includes a U-shapedferromagnetic outer member and a centrally located conductive windingconnected to a source of alternating voltage that creates a flux pathwithin the U-shaped ferromagnetic material first in one direction andthen in the opposite direction to attract and repel the yoke 356.

To vibrate the nozzle 336A, the yoke 356 includes a ferromagnetic springand downwardly extending member which fits around and grasps the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336A. The ferromagnetic spring extends betweenthe legs of the U-shaped ferromagnetic material, being firmly fastenedat one end and spring-biased from the other end, so that the flux paththrough the U-shaped member pulls the free end of the spring toward itto complete a flux path in one direction, and releases it as the fluxpath changes directions, pulling it back again to complete the path inthe other direction. This action vibrates the yoke 356 and the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336A at a frequency and amplitude sufficient tomaintain a smooth flow of seeds. While a typical ferromagnetic vibrator334 has been disclosed, there are many such vibrators of different typesavailable commercially and other vibrators may be utilized if itvibrates the yoke 356 at a frequency and displacement amplitude: (1)sufficient to prevent the separation of seeds from the matrix while theseeds are still within the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A as thegel and seeds flow from the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A, such asby friction against the walls; and (2) also sufficient to aid theseparation of gel and seeds outside of but in contact with the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336A in a controlled manner with the aid of airflow from the separator nozzle 340. The principal purpose of thevibrations is to maintain an even dispersion of seeds and gel as the geland seed matrix flows through the nozzle after it has left directcontact with the auger's shear force members.

The vibrations should be at a frequency suitable for the purposeintended, and generally having a longer wave length than the diameter ofthe seeds. It should generally be between 20 cycles per second and10,000 cycles per seconds with an amplitude of between one millimeterand three millimeters to prevent the seeds as they push through thenozzle 336A from being lodged in the exit and plugging the nozzle. Theamplitude of the vibrations should be sufficient to create an inertiaeffect between the seed and the gel and, thus, is related to theviscosity of the gel and the density of the seeds.

The separator 246 is intended at regular intervals to force seeds andmatrix arriving at the tip of the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A tobe separated and drop to the ground. It may be a mechanical vibratorwhich passes across the opening or a rotating fan-like mechanism but inthe preferred embodiment, is 0.025 psi above atmospheric pressure. Toproperly separate the seeds, the air stream should be between 1/20th ofa pound per square inch and four pounds per square inch aboveatmospheric pressure or below atmospheric pressure if it is a vacuumpump positioned to remove gel and seeds and permit them to drop bygravity. Preferably, the air stream passes directly across the tip ofthe seed or particle feeder nozzle 336A in a vertical direction in aplane perpendicular to the direction of motion of the planter or in thedirection of the groove into which the seeds are to be dropped andperpendicular or at a slight angle in a plane aligned with the directionof motion of the planter or in the direction of the groove into whichthe seeds are to be dropped, the angle aligned with the direction of themotion of the planter or the groove being no more than 75 degrees oneither side of a normal to the ground and being no more than 30 degreesfrom a normal to the ground in a plane perpendicular to the direction ofmotion of the planter or the groove.

In FIG. 43, there is shown another embodiment of seed or particle feeder244A connected to the separator 246 and having an identical vibrator 334(shown in detail in FIG. 49), mounting bracket 352, bottom feed section278A and shaft 330. However, the feed hopper 276B differs from the feedhopper 276A of FIG. 42. The differences are generally intended toaccommodate larger seeds and larger volumes of seeds than that of thefeed hopper 276A of FIG. 42 by making the movement of the seeds into thebottom feed section 278A easy while accommodating larger volumes offeedstock in the box.

The feed hopper 276B includes an enlarged top portion 360, an inwardlyangled portion 362, a narrow portion 364 and an auger portion 366 whichis attached to the bottom feed section 278A. The bottom feed section278A has an auger 370 within it which is rotated by shaft 330 from achain and sprocket section or from a motor to move the gel toward theseed or particle feeder nozzle 336B. The narrow portion 364 narrows downto force gel onto the auger 370 where it can be moved within thecylindrical bottom feed section 278A which encases it so that the shearsurfaces of the auger 370 successively move the mixture to the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336B.

To facilitate flow of the mixture, the narrow portion 364 is at an angleso that the bottom feed section 278A tilts downwardly with the seed orparticle feeder nozzle 336B being below the shaft 330. The narrowportion 364 connects the auger portion 366 with the inwardly angledportion 362 which causes the mixture to slide inwardly. The enlarged topportion 360 is above the inwardly angled portion 362 to contain morematerial and yet by gravity force the mixture downwardly onto the auger370.

In FIG. 44, there is shown a plan view of the seed or particle feeder244A having a feed hopper 276A, an auger 370, and the nozzle 336B. Thefeed hopper 276A has: (1) an open top end to receive gel and seed; and(2) a bottom end communicating with the auger 370 to supply a mixture ofseed and gel thereto. To receive gel and seeds, the feed hopper 276Ahas: (1) an enlarged top portion 360 having a rectangular cross sectionwith straight vertical sides; (2) a smaller center or connecting portion362 having inwardly tapered walls connecting the top end portion andlower portions; (3) a lower narrow portion 364 having a rectangularinsertion; and (4) an inwardly tapered section or auger portion 366ending with the auger 370 at the bottom. The auger 370 has at one end apin connection 372 for connecting to the shaft 330 to rotate the auger370 and at its other end a termination land 374 intended to eject seeds.The auger 370 contains threads within a compartment 380 located at thebottom of the feed hopper 276A and opening upwardly into the feed hopper276A. The threads of the auger extend within the nozzle 336B shown at382, the bottom feed section 378A being a closed cylinder surroundingthe end of the auger 370 and ending in an opening 384 which opening hastappered walls and an oriface through which the feedstock material suchas seeds, particles, additives, and gel mixtures is moved. The bottomcompartment 380 is not as long as the threaded portion of the shank ofthe auger. An unthreaded portion 381 of the auger, at least one inchlong, fits within the compartment 380 for receiving gel to be moved bythe auger 370 to the nozzle 336B.

The feed hopper 276A, auger 370 and bottom feed section 378A aredesigned with dimensions selected to prevent: (1) cracking of seedsbetween edges of the auger 370 and the nozzle 336A or feed hopper 276A;(2) the separation of seeds by laminar flow against surfaces, resultingin eventual blocking of the nozzle 336B; (3) pulsating output of seedsand gel caused by irregular delivery from the auger 370 through theopening 384; and (4) improper spacing of seeds by disruption of the evendispersion of seeds within the gel. To reduce cracking or slicing of theseeds, the angle of the threads of the auger 370 at their upper edge andthe angle of the bottom feed section 378A or the feed hopper 276A at thelocation where the mixture is first pushed from the feed hopper 276Ainto the bottom feed section 378A are selected to avoid a scissor effectwhich may crush or slice seeds. For this purpose, the angle of theflight where it passes into the tube and the angle of the wall withinthe feed hopper 276A that it contacts are selected to be equal so thatflight and wall operate as an edge moving parallel toward an edge. Thisstructure permits maximum gel to be drawn into the bottom feed section378A and avoids a scissor effect which may catch the seeds and crack orslice them.

To reduce the separation of seeds by laminar flow as the gel moves downthe feed hopper 276A, the feed hopper 276A is of a sufficient size tocreate downward pressure into the auger compartment 380 and has angledwalls which are related to the viscosity of the gel and the size anddensity of the seeds. The bottom angled surface is intended to channelthe gel directly into the auger 370 rather than permitting it to lieagainst a flat surface where seeds may eventually separate out by slowmotion of the gel or motion of the gel in a horizontal plane against thebottom of the feed hopper 276A. The straight surfaces are intended tocreate a head of weight which tends to force the gel downwardly withpressure against the slanted surfaces.

To prevent blocking near the end of the bottom feed section 378A wherethe matrix of seeds and gel enter it from the feed hopper 276A, thedepth of the grooves in the auger is sufficiently deep and the angle ofthe threads sufficiently great to cause the gel mixture to be moved withonly a small surface area of gel with a large bulk moving in contactwith a stationary surface at a rate which is not conducive to laminarflow. The threads are shaped in this manner because laminar flow mayotherwise cause separation of seeds against the surface of the groovesand eventually result in clogging. The actual flow is turbulent andconducive to some mixing that maintains the seeds in suspension.

The depth of the grooves in the auger varies with the size of the seedand the amount of gel. The angle of the threads is correlated with anumber of factors to control the speed of movement of the surface of thegel against the walls of the bottom feed section 378A, the other factorsbeing: (1) the spacing between seeds; (2) the speed of the planteracross the ground; (3) the density of the seeds within the gel; (4) theangle of the threads of the auger 370; and (5) the number of revolutionsper minute of the auger 370. To reduce separation at the exit end of thebottom feed section 378A, the angle of the termination land 374 issharpened to push gel and seeds out at a greater velocity. Thus, theangle of the inlet end of the bottom feed section 378A matches thethreads and the threads have an angle at that location which isdifferent than the angle at the exit end.

To reduce plugging of the nozzles: (1) the angle of the termination land374 and the angle of narrowing of the bottom feed section 378A areselected for maximum ejection separation and precision, (2) an airseparator is used as described above; (3) a vibrator is used asdescribed above; and (4) the gel mixture has sufficient solid andsemisolid material in it to impart a force directly through thefeedstock material rather than separating solids from gels. This permitsmovement through openings as little as one millimeter or less longerthan the seeds rather than plugging as has happened with prior artefforts to pump gel mixture through a hose. The end thread of the augerextends into the tapered portion of the nozzle 336B to create a force asthe taper occurs to reduce clogging. The vibration appears to createturbulence and avoids the lodging of the seeds at this location.

Since the viscosity of the gel affects both the settling rate and theability to separate at the nozzle, it is chosen with both factors inmind. Some gels change in viscosity with time and so seeds which havebeen preconditioned are mixed with the gel and the gel immediately usedsince its viscosity can be controlled at the starting point. This alsoreduces the possibility of the gel drowning the seeds for lack of oxygenbecause of the short time that they are actually in the gel and yetpermits rapid and synchronous emergence of plants that are planted fromthe fully hydrated seeds with the invention.

The threads 382 between grooves are shaped with a flat top edge whichcan closely engage the walls of the bottom feed section 378A and athickness which is low compared to the size across of the groove topermit the gel and seed matrix to be carried in pockets sufficientlylarge as compared to the surfaces against which the open end of thegrooves move so that with the auger 370 rotating at a speed sufficientlylow, separation by laminar flow is low and a relatively non-slipfriction surface to move the seeds is provided. Generally, the edges ofthe threads should be less than 1/10th of the open surface betweenthreads in the grooves and the grooves should be at least as deep as thelinear length of the open space except for small seeds. The diameter ofthe screw should be such with the above constraints as to prevent motionbetween the walls of the bottom feed section 378A and the gel greaterthan 36 linear inches per minute for average viscosity gels.

To prevent the output from pulsing, either: (1) the angle of the threads382 is uniform; or (2) the ratio of depth to width of the grooves of theauger 370 are selected so that there is not a great difference in thedelivery rate during different portions of a revolution of the auger370. Similarly, the width of the edge and slope of the threads areselected to avoid a dead space into the nozzle 336B. A shallow, widegroove causes more of the gel and seed to be exposed to frictional andcentrifugal forces while being moved toward the nozzle 336B in thebottom feed section 378A and thus creates better mixing for a uniformdistribution of seeds but increases the possibility of the seeds beingmoved by frictional forces against the surface.

The angle of the threads, except for the front end, should be at least15 degrees and is preferably 22 degrees with a pitch of 1.5 per inchsingle groove. The angle at the termination land 374 at the tip of theauger 370 is much sharper and should form an acute angle no greater than15 degrees to cause a rapid acceleration of the matrix and seeds and gelat the tip. While in the preferred embodiment, the pitch and angle ofthe auger 370 is sharply increased only adjacent to the nozzle 336A(FIG. 42) or 336B, it may have a different pitch within the bottom feedsection 378A than within the feed hopper 276A itself since the tendencyto separate out is greater in the bottom feed section 378A where it issurrounded by tube wall with no open side. Throughout the auger 370, itis desirable to form the trailing edge of each thread to aerodynamicallypull the gel forward and the forward edge to push the gel forward.

In FIG. 45, there is shown a fragmentary perspective view of a modifiedJohn Deere Max Emerge planter illustrating the positioning of the seedor particle feeder 344A, the planting shoe 310, the separator nozzle 340and the gauge wheel 261 A in a furrow preparing section 262A. As shownin this view, the planter is mounted to the gauge control wheels 261Abehind the disk openers and to the access of the gauge control wheelswhere it floats as attached by the lever 312 to a floating adjustablesupport 313.

To permit floating at an adjustable height, the lever 312 is pinned at315 to the level adjustment support 313 which is also mounted to thegauge wheel shaft at 317 but is adjustable in height thereabout by meansof a lever 319, so that: (1) the tip of the shoe 310 is mounted at thesame level as the disk opener adjacent to the depth gauge wheel 261A;(2) the rear portion of the lever 312 is pinned at 315 at a heightadjustable by the lever 319 with its bottom connected to the top of theshoe 310; and (3) the shoe rear, the lever 312 and the level adjustmentare all free to move upwardly or downwardly a short distance under thecontrol of a spring bias lever 321 by pivoting about the pin 315 andshaft 317. Between the wings of the trailing section 318 of the shoe310, the separator nozzle 340 and the nozzle of the bottom feed section278A are positioned adjacent to each other to be shielded by thetrailing edge 318. The amount of movement of the shoe 310 isinsufficient to remove the separation tip and nozzle tip from the wingsof the shoe at 318 where they are protected from dirt or wind whichmight otherwise disrupt their operation.

With this arrangement, room is provided within the furrow diggingmechanism for the separator nozzle and seed or particle feeder nozzlewithin a protected location that shields the nozzles from being cloggedby dirt or having the seed moved aside by excessive wind and yet permitsthem to be close to their final location with respect to the ground forplanting. The amount of spring bias and dimensions of the shoe mountingare related so that the floating action of the shoe does not influencethe fixture operation in a detrimental manner.

In FIGS. 46, 47 and 48, there are shown three different augers 392, 394and 396, respectively, with the three augers being for different sizeseeds. The auger 392 has a shank with a larger diameter and a largerpitch or angle to the threads at the tip 398. The grooves between thethreads are also larger and the threads have a smaller angle. It isadapted for seeds the size of corn. The auger 394 is for small seedssuch as carrot or lettuce and has a tip 400 with a smaller pitch.Generally, it has a ½ inch outer diameter, with a one inch lead betweenthe threads and a depth of ⅛ inch between the grooves bottom and the topedges of the threads. FIG. 48 shows an auger for medium size seeds suchas onion seeds having a ¾ inch lead between the threads and a 0.40 depthof the groove. Its tip 400 is a still lower angle tip. In general, theaugers have a pitch of between one-half inch and three inches and agroove depth of between 1/16 of an inch and three inches.

In FIG. 49, there is shown an elevational view of the vibrator 334 and amounting bracket base 352, with the vibrator including an electromagnet350 and a yoke 356. The mounting base 352 is connected to the mountingbracket 264 (FIG. 45) as described above, and the base 352 is connectedto the vibrator by a top screw 351 for firm mounting. To permitvibration of the yoke 356 by the electromagnet 350, the electromagnet350 includes a leaf spring 414, a ferromagnetic outer base 418, and acoil. A metal extension 410 is connected at 412 to the ferromagneticleaf spring 414 which is biased a slight distance shown at 416 from theelectromagnet 350. The outer base 418 is an inverted U-shapedferromagnetic member having two end portions 420 and 434 and surroundingthe electromagnetic coil which is electrically connected to a source ofAC potential as described above. To vibrate the nozzle, the yoke 356includes a downwardly extending arm 426 and a collar 428, with the arm426 being connected to the ferromagnetic leaf spring 414, which isseparated from the ends 420 and 434 by the gap 416 and attached at itsother end to the collar 428 for vibrating the nozzle (FIG. 44) of thedrive means for the seed or particle feeder 244A. Of course many othertypes of vibrators are known and can be used.

In FIG. 50, there is shown a nozzle 336B having a land 384 and one ormore slits 337. The nozzle is made of an elastomeric material such asrubber and capable of expanding. The slits 337 and the rubberconstruction are adapted to seeds which have a small amount of gel withthem and thus provide a solid mass to squeeze through the tip one by onein the singulation process, but not generally being able to escape bygravity. At the tip, they are vibrated by the vibrator as describedabove and singulated by air. In the alternative, the fixture 20C asdescribed in connection with FIG. 22 may be used to separate the seedsone from the other and expel them.

In FIG. 51, there is shown a nozzle 336A which is formed of relativelyrigid plastic and adapted to receive small seeds containing a largeamount of gel. This nozzle does not expand but vibrates and has sectionsof gel removed by the separator containing seeds for singulation. Thegel has sufficient self adhesion to prevent the seeds from escaping thetip of the nozzle prematurely by gravity.

In FIG. 52, there is shown another embodiment of seed or particle feeder430 specially designed for careful placement of seeds by causing theseeds to fall within a group of preselected target areas. For thispurpose, it includes a spacer 434 comprising a solenoid 432 and asolenoid operated lever 436 positioned in juxtaposition with theseparator nozzle 340 and the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336. Thesolenoid 432 may be any type of solenoid capable of moving the solenoidoperated lever 434 so that the lever moves a blocking mechanism 236 overthe orifice in the separator nozzle 340 to interrupt the air therefrom.With this embodiment, the solenoid 432, when actuated, moves thesolenoid operated lever 434 into the path of the separator nozzle 340 sothat seeds and matrix are not forced from the seed or particle feedernozzle 336 by a stream of air under pressure from the separator nozzle340. When the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336 is directly over thetarget area, the solenoid 432 is deenergized to release the solenoidoperated lever 434 and open a path for the air from the separator nozzle340 to blow across the seed or particle feeder nozzle 336, thus removingthe gel and seed which accumulated while the air was blocked from theseed or particle feeder nozzle 336. This can also be accomplished byother means such as by opening and closing a solenoid valve in the airsupply 340.

In FIG. 53, there is shown a perspective view looking from the top ofstill another embodiment 440 of seed or particle feeder having a hopper452 and first, second and third augers 446, 448 and 453. The hopperincludes a rectangular outer wall portion 242, an inwardly tapered wallportion 444 ending in a flat bed which receives within recesses theaugers 446, 448 and 453. This embodiment 440 is similar to priorembodiments except that there are three augers forming three drive meansfor three different rows of seeds within a single hopper 452.

In FIG. 54, there is shown another perspective view of the embodiment440 of a three-row seed or particle feeder and separator showing thesingle hopper 452 mounted vertically with three nozzles 454, 456 and 458extending therefrom to be vibrated by a single vibrator 470 having yokesabout each of the nozzles for vibrating them as described above inconnection with single row seed or particle feeders and separators.Adjacent and above each of the nozzles 454, 456 and 458 arecorresponding separator nozzles 460, 462, and 464 adapted to beconnected to a manifold 480 which receives a source of air underpressure at the connection 480 under the control of a valve 468 so as tocontrol the pressure of the air flowing across the nozzles. Thisembodiment of seed or particle feeder and separator operates in the samemanner as the prior embodiments and is adapted to be mounted to aplanter to plant adjacent rows in close juxtaposition from a singlehopper. It has the advantage of economy and the ability to plant closelyspaced rows of seeds.

In FIG. 55, there is shown an embodiment of a gel-chemical dispenser 498having a fixture 532A with an air source 340 and separation surface 540,and an additive line 538A connected to an additive source. Thegel-chemical dispenser 498 may be used alone or mounted in tandem with aseed or particle feeder (FIG. 45) to have gel with additives separatedby air from the nozzle 340 and deposited with seed from a seed orparticle feeder such as that shown in FIG. 56 or alone.

The separator may be substantially the same as the separators used inthe embodiment of FIG. 56 cooperates with the feeder 532A in FIG. 55 butmay be arranged in any of the other arrangements described herein. Anozzle for the chemical additives similar to the nozzle 336A (FIG. 51)may also be used, and in this case the separator may be positioned in amanner similar to the position it is used in the seed or particle feeder344A (FIG. 45) to deposit additives and gel or a separator may not beused at all to deposit a tubular column of gel and additives.

A pump 534 (FIG. 56) may be any suitable peristaltic pump such as forexample peristaltic pumps sold under the trademark Masterflex byCole-Parmer Instrument Company, Chicago, Ill., or gear pump or otherprecision low pressure pump which may be driven by an axle or wheel soas to synchronize pumping rate with travel speed or pumps sold byCole-Parma under the trademark ISMATIC if driven by a separate motorcontrolled by the operator to maintain delivery speed in accordance withspeed of the dispenser with respect to the field. Moreover, pumps thatare capable of positive displacement at low pressure other thanperistaltic pumps may be used.

The fixture 532A may be vibrated in a manner similar to the embodimentof FIG. 45 or may rely only on the force of the vibrator 334 to cause acontinuous substantially uniform gel-chemical additive to be applied. Inone embodiment, the fixture 532A is cut away at 540A to provide an opentop channel to receive gel and the nozzle 540 of the separator ispositioned to direct air under pressure directly at the open top of thechannel and thus form a mist of gel-additive spray that is uniformlyspread over any area. The opening is adjusted so that chemical additivesare economically used and may be contained by the gel at a concentrationsuch that uniform and adequate distribution with the gel is obtained atthe appropriate rate by controlling the-pump speed, size of fixture 532Aand speed of movement across a field with respect to the concentrationof the material being applied.

In FIG. 56, there is shown a agricultural input dispensing system 499adapted to be pulled across a field to provide additives having a pump334, a chemical tank 330, an air manifold 350, a ground wheel drive 352,air lines 446A-446H, chemical lines 538A-538H and nozzles 532A-532H. Thepump 334 is driven by the ground wheel 352 to pump a gel-additive matrixor concentrated chemical additive through the chemical lines 538A-538H.Air from two blowers 354 and 356 pressurize the manifold 350 to apressure controlled by air pressure adjustment valve 358 as measured byan air pressure gauge 360. Air under pressure is applied through the airlines 446A-446H to the nozzles 532A-532H to spray droplets of thematerial being applied. The material being applied should resistdripping from the nozzle or fixture in most cases of applying material.Viscosity in relation to conduit or nozzle size is a principal means forpreventing such excessive free movement.

This system has the advantage of: (1) reducing the amount of chemicaladditive and carrier because it is viscous and may be slowly but evenlydistributed; and (2) is not susceptible to clogging because reasonablesize nozzle openings may be used and the gel may he expelled throughthem with substantial force to keep them clear without using excessiveamounts of gel or additive. Before operating the planter or applicatorof FIGS. 21-23 of this invention, seeds having characteristics suitablefor fluid drilling are selected. The seeds may be activated initiallythrough priming, dried to terminate activation, stored until plantingtime, mixed with a gel and then fed from a planter as the plantertraverses the field in properly spaced orientation for rapid germinationand emergence.

To precondition the seeds, the seeds are permitted to absorb water atproper germination temperatures as described by Bredford, Kent J. “SeedPriming: Techniques to Speed Seed Germination”, Proceedings of the Oreon Horticultural Society, 1984, v. 25, pp. 227-233. After reachingactivation but prior to growth, the seeds are usually removed from thepriming system and dried although they can be directly planted ratherthan being dried and later rehydrated.

Prior to planting, a gel is prepared from commercial powders such asthose sold by Hercules, Inc., 910 Market Street, Wilmington, Del., underthe trademark “NATROSOL” (hydroxyethylcellulose). Generally, the gel isprepared in the manner described by the manufacturer which, in thepreferred embodiment, is Hercules, Inc., as described in their Bulletin450-11 revision 10-80 m 10 M07640H entitled NATROSOL.

The viscosity of the gel used in fluid drilling in accordance with thisinvention when Natrosol is the gel agent should be between 800 and 5000centipoise. Preferably, for relatively small seeds such as cabbage, themixture is prepared to yield soft gel having a viscosity of between1,800 and 2,000 centipoise, for medium sized seeds a medium strength gelhaving a viscosity of between 2,500 to 3,000 centipoise and for largeseeds, a heavy strength, having a viscosity of between 3,000 to 4,000centipoise. The volume of gel to seed is in a range of ratios of between1 to 1 and 4 to 1 and preferably a range of 3 to 1 for small seeds. Theseeds and gel are preferably mixed together within three hours beforeplanting. Additives such as microorganisms having beneficial effects onthe plants may be added to infect the seeds or pesticides andfertilizers or growth hormones may be added to the gel at the same timeit is mixed or after but before planting. The matrix of seeds and gelare mixed and put into the feed hoppers 276A and 276B as shown in FIGS.35, 36, 42-44.

Beneath the gel mixture is a drive mechanism for the seed or particlefeeder which includes means for moving pockets of gel and seed as groupsalong at least partially enclosing surfaces to reduce the amount ofmotion between gel surfaces and solid surfaces. The hopper into whichthe gel is formed generally requires surfaces arranged to reduce theremoval of seeds by friction against the surfaces during flow of thematerial. Similarly, the drive mechanism is designed to have a reducedarea of contact between solid surfaces and the moving surface of the geland for this purpose, an auger is used. To avoid plugging of the augerby reducing the separation of seeds and gel, there should be sufficientsolid material in the material being moved to apply direct force to theseeds and other particles rather than moving the fluidic material aroundthe solid particles. Preferably for most seeds and gel mixtures, thehelical grooves in the auger should be between ¼ inch and ½ inch indepth and between ⅛ inch and 1½ inches between threads, with the threadsbeing no more than ⅕ of the distance between threads in thickness and noless than ⅕ of the depth of the grooves. With this arrangement, arelatively pulseless flow is provided of pockets of gel with arelatively small moving surface of insufficient velocity to causesubstantial separation of seeds.

As the auger carries pockets of matrix of gel and seed through adistribution tube toward a feed nozzle, the threads of the augersapproach the edge of the bottom seed section or the hopper, whichever isfirst, but approach it in a parallel fashion with an angle correspondingto the angle of the hopper. This prevents the squeezing of seeds andcracking or slicing of the seeds as they pass into the auger deliverytube in the bottom feed section 278A (FIG. 44). The seeds are conveyedby the auger to an end thread which is at a relatively sharp angle tothrust the gel forward through the vibrating nozzle. As the seeds andgel pass through the orifice in the nozzle, there is a tendency for themto accumulate. However, air under pressure blows downwardly with apressure of at least one-twentyth of a pound per square inch and 10pounds per square inch across the nozzle in a direction along a planepassing through the longitudinal axis of the delivery tube andperpendicular to the ground, with the air flow being at an angle to theground no more than 60 degrees on either side of a normal in a planealong the longitudinal axis of the auger and no more than 30 degreesfrom the normal to the ground in a plane perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the auger.

The hopper and feed mechanism are pulled along a field during thedelivery of seeds and include a furrow opener and a modified wideningshoe for larger seeds, which spreads the earth into a wide furrow.Furrow closing and pressing wheels close the furrow and, in oneembodiment, control the rate of rotation of the auger so as to adjustthe dispensing of seeds to the speed of the tractor. In otherembodiments, the seeds are detected or the rate of turning of the augeris detected and displayed to the tractor operator who pulls the planterat a speed corresponding to the auger speed. For certain seeds which arerelatively large and planted deeper, such as sweet corn, the furrowopener has mounted to it a blade extending downwardly an additional inchto create a deeper groove for the seed to drop further into the furrow.In embodiments of planters which are intended to drop seeds throughspaced apart apertures in plastic or the like for accurate stands, asolenoid operated blocking device is timed to block air until the seedis about to be dispensed and then move the blocking plate away so thatthe air will blow matrix and seed into the aperture in the plastic.While an individual auger has been described through the center of asingle hopper, multiple augers may be utilized positioned so that thegel flows into the auger with adequate pressure. In such a case, eachauger will terminate in a separate nozzle vibrated by a vibrator andutilizing a separator. It is possible to use one vibrator to vibrateseveral nozzles.

In FIG. 57, there is shown a block diagram of a control system 490 for aplanter or applicator such as the planter or applicator 100 shown inFIG. 22 having mounted within the vehicle a set of manual controls 494,a set of panel displays 496, a microprocessor 451 a set of outputdevices 500 that are operated by the manual controls 494 and certainmeasuring instruments 502 which cooperate with the manual controls 494in microprocessor 451 to provide displays 496 and proper operation ofthe output devices 500

The output devices 500 include boom motors 514, booms 516 containingfixtures on them, a centrifugal blower 518, a variable frequency driveor converter or generator 520 and a feedstock pump 522. The booms 516are raised or lowered automatically. In the preferred embodiment, theyare raised or lowered by DC motors 514 under the control of manualcontrols in the cab to vary their elevation in accordance with therequirements for spraying.

For certain agricultural uses, material may be sprayed at one elevation,usually a higher elevation in a crop, in relatively viscous form, orwith larger drops and at a lower elevation in more mobile form orsmaller drops since the more viscous droplets will be less subject todrift. The centrifugal blower 518 is controlled by the microprocessor451 to control the air pressure applied to the fixture and thus vary thedrop distribution. The microprocessor 451 may adjust for the velocity ofthe vehicle to apply feedstock material at the appropriate rate. Airpressure transducer 526 supplies information to the microprocessor 451so that the panel mounted manual control for air pressure 508 in themanual controls 494 which is also connected to the microprocessor 451may be adjusted to the preset rate by controlling the centrifugal blower518 through the microprocessor 451. The feedstock pump 522 is controlledas to pumping rate by the signal from the variable frequency generator520 to which it is connected. The microprocessor 451 controls thevariable frequency generator 520 in response to the changes in the speedof the vehicle and signals from the panel mounted manual controls 494relating to the rate of application to the field so that the rate ofapplication may be continued at a constant appropriate preset rate perunit area even though the speed of the vehicle changes.

The measuring systems 502 include a global positioning system 524 an airpressure transducer 526 and a feedstock flow rate meter 528, each ofwhich is electrically connected to the microprocessor 451. The GPS 524may monitor the speed the vehicle is traveling and supply thisinformation to the microprocessor 451 to adjust the rate of the flow ofthe feedstock material and the air pressure or other variables in afixture mounted to the booms 516 and thus maintain the appropriatedistribution of droplets. Similarly, the air pressure transducers 526and feedstock flow rate meters 528 supply feedback signals to themicroprocessor 451 to maintain the appropriate air pressure andfeedstock flow rate under varying conditions.

The manual controls 494 include a panel mounted manual control for boomelevation 506, a panel mounted manual control for rate of application offeedstock 504 and a panel mounted manual control for air pressure 508.In the preferred embodiment, the panel mounted manual control for boomelevation 506 is directly controlled by the operator of the vehicle whoadjusts by sight to the appropriate field conditions. The panel mountedmanual control for rate of application 504 and the panel mounted manualcontrol for air pressure 508 may be utilized by the operator viewing thesprayed material in making appropriate adjustments by sight based onexperience. On the other hand, an inexperienced operator may rely uponpreset values which are controlled for varying conditions by the sensorsfeeding signals to the microprocessor 451.

To aid in controlling the spray, the operator may rely upon the displays496 in addition to visually observing the spray. The displays 496include a drop size distribution display 510 and a rate of applicationdisplay 512 which receive signals from the microprocessor 451 whichcorrelates the measured values and supplies signals based on itsinternal calculations to its displays.

From the above description, it can be understood that the plantingapparatuses and methods of this invention have several advantages suchas: (1) there is less damage to seed because of the controlled water uptake; (2) it is economical in the use of gel per acre; (3) there is lessdamage to seeds from lack of oxygen or drowning or the like; (4) theseeds may be controlled for spacing in a superior manner duringdrilling; (5) there is good control over uniformity in the time ofemergence of the plants from the seeds; and (6) the process iseconomical.

From the above description, it can be understood that the spray methodand apparatus of this invention has several advantages such as forexample: (1) vehicles and aircraft used for applying agricultural inputsto fields do not need to carry as heavy a load of carrier fluid to applyagricultural inputs, for example, they can carry the same activeingredients as prior art agricultural inputs with a reduction in waterof as much as 90 percent; (2) they reduce or eliminate the requirementfor periodic addition of carrier fluid, thus reducing the time andexpense of spraying; (3) they permit the application of some beneficialmicrobes with seeds because the agricultural inputs containing microbescan be applied at pressures low enough to avoid killing the microbes;(4) the high viscosity, relatively large drop size and narrow sizedistribution of the agricultural inputs reduce drift when sprayed; (5)it is possible to avoid diluting agricultural inputs with carriers suchas water that have high surface tension and form beads on contact ratherthan spreading such over a leaf; (6) drops of agricultural inputs withgreater shear resistance can be used to reduce the breaking up of thedrops and the resulting increase in drop size distribution decreasesdrift, and reduction in drop size increased drift; (7) it is notnecessary to add carriers used for dilution, such as water, that haveunpredictable mineral content and pH variations; (8) the tendency foractive ingredients to precipitate out because of the addition ofcarriers is reduced; (9) in some embodiments, the particle size ofactive ingredients can be reduced and thus provide better penetrationinto a host; and (10) increases constant rate per unit area.

It can be further understood from the above description that the planterin accordance with this invention has several advantages such as: (1) itcan provide effective fluid drilling with adequate separation of seeds;(2) it can provide planting of seeds with superior beneficial microbeinoculation characteristics; (3) it can combine effective planting withbeneficial chemical and microbial additives; (4) it provides goodseparation of seeds being planted without repeated mixing of the fluidand the seeds; (5) there is less damage to seed because of controlledpriming in the presence of air and controlled water uptake; (6) it iseconomical in the use of gel per acre; (7) there is less damage to seedsin the planting operation; (7) the seeds may be controlled for spacingin a superior manner during drilling; (8) there is good control overuniformity in time of emergence of the plants from the seeds; and (9) itpermits protection of the seed and addition of additives economically.

It can also be understood from the above description that the method,formulations and apparatus for forming fibers in accordance with thisinvention have several advantages, such as: (1) longer fibers can beformed; (2) chitosan fibers, mats and sheets can be more economicallyand better formed; (3) fibers can be formed without electrospinning; and(4) scale up is facilitated. While a preferred embodiment of theinvention has been described with some particularity, many modificationsand variations in the preferred embodiment are possible withoutdeviating from the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that,within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedother than as specifically described.

1. A method of planting, comprising the steps of: mixing seeds with gelin proportions in which the gel has a ratio of less than three parts toone part of seed in volume; conveying said seeds to a nozzle; droppingsaid seeds from said nozzle in a controlled time sequence; and movingsaid nozzle along a field at a rate of time correlated with a time ofseparation of said seeds.
 2. A method according to claim 1 furthercomprising the step of mixing selected microorganisms with said seeds,whereby said seeds are infected by microorganisms.
 3. A method accordingto claim 1 further including the step of adding peroxide to the gel. 4.A method according to claim 1 further including the step of adding anoxygen emitting material to the gel.
 5. A method according to claim 1 inwhich said gel and said seeds are permitted to move into a fixturehaving a surface which moves pockets of gel and seed wherein the gel hassufficient high density material to move the seeds with the gel.
 6. Amethod according to claim 5 in which said fixture includes an auger. 7.A method according to claim 1 further including the step of preparing agel having a viscosity of at least 1200 centipoises.
 8. A methodaccording to claim 1 further including the step of mixing the gel to aviscosity having a density which is within 20 percent of the density ofthe seed.
 9. A method according to claim 1 further including the step ofmixing the gel to a viscosity sufficient to hold seeds of the densityused for at least ten minutes in suspension without the seeds fallingwithin the gel more than six inches.
 10. A method according to claim 1in which the step of mixing seeds with gel includes the step of mixingthe seeds with gel no more than four days prior to planting.
 11. Amethod according to claim 1 in which the step of mixing the seeds withgel includes the step of mixing the seeds within six hours of the timeof planting.
 12. A method according to claim 1 further including thestep of holding the gel and the seeds in a hopper for feeding, whichhopper is sufficiently high to create a head of pressure equal to atleast two inches in height above the auger and which surfaces of thehopper are sufficiently low in area and smooth to reduce the removal ofseeds by friction along the surfaces.
 13. A method according to claim 1in which the gel is mixed with the seeds in a ratio of approximatelyeight volumes of gel to ten volumes of seeds for relatively large seedsand less than three volumes of gel for each volume of small or mediumseeds.